Shortly ahead of the expected certification of the 2024 election, President Joe Biden said the country cannot ignore the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, but the nation must also return to the norms of a peaceful transfer of power.
Biden, speaking with reporters late Sunday after he signed the Social Security Fairness Act, said he is “hopeful” the country can move beyond that period, adding that President-elect Donald Trump’s actions at the time posed a “genuine threat to democracy.”
“I think it should not be rewritten. I don’t think it should be forgotten,” Biden said, adding that he’s tried to make the transition “smooth” for the incoming Trump administration. “We’ve got to get back to basic, normal transfer of power. I don’t think we should pretend it didn’t happen.”
Biden’s remarks come as Trump tries to rewrite history of the carnage and prepares to pardon many of the Jan. 6 rioters, four years after they descended on the Capitol to disrupt Congress’ counting of electoral votes. But Monday in Washington is expected to be routine, as Trump’s victory — if all goes as planned amid a major snowstorm — is set to be certified in a ceremony overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris, who he defeated in November.
“Four years later, leaving office, I am determined to do everything I can to respect the peaceful transfer of power and restore the traditions we have long respected in America,” Biden wrote Sunday in an op-ed in The Washington Post.
Republicans in recent days have also bashed Biden for awarding Presidential Citizens medals to Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the members who led the Jan. 6 select committee that probed Trump’s role in the Capitol attack.
Biden later Sunday spoke at a reception for new Democratic members of Congress, telling lawmakers to improve the institution — “don’t tear it down.” He said democracy was “literally put to the test” on Jan. 6, underscoring the work it takes to protect it.
