Third Anniversary of Trump-Biden Capitol Riot: What Happened and What Comes Next?

Former President Donald Trump held a campaign rally in Iowa on Friday, hours after President Joe Biden delivered a campaign speech in Pennsylvania, in which he derided his predecessor for his role in the deadly January 6 insurrection at the Capitol building.

Trump did not directly address the third anniversary of the Capitol riot but instead mocked Biden, who had called him a “loser” in his speech. Trump aimed Biden, saying he stuttered through the whole speech and couldn’t read the words or pronounce “democracy”.

He also imitated Biden’s inability to find the exit route after a speech, claiming, “he can’t walk off the stage”.

In his speech, Trump uttered the words “insurrection” and “J6” but only briefly mentioned issues related to it. He said his enemies have said he “incited an insurrection”, that “J6 had the biggest crowd”, and that “nobody’s been mistreated in history” than the insurrectionists who were arrested and charged. Trump focused his rally on ripping his enemies and urging his supporters to vote for him in the Iowa Caucus on January 15.

On the other hand, President Biden delivered a scathing attack against Trump while likening his campaign for reelection to General George Washington leading troops to victory in the Revolutionary War. Biden warned that Trump intends to launch an “assault on democracy” that “isn’t just part of his past” but rather “what he’s promising in the future”.

He said that Trump exhausted all legal avenues to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, but “the legal path just took Trump back to the truth that I’d won the election and he was a loser”.

Biden continued that more than 140 police officers were injured on January 6, 2021, and some died “because of Donald Trump’s lies” that “brought a mob to Washington”. Since that day, more than 1,200 individuals have been charged for an assault on the Capitol and nearly 900 have been convicted or pleaded guilty. Biden said that Trump’s campaign “is about him” and “not America, not you”.

He added that Trump “tried to rewrite the facts of January 6” and is “trying to steal history the same way he tried to steal the election”.

In conclusion, both Trump and Biden made speeches on the third anniversary of the Capitol riot. Trump avoided mentioning the anniversary and instead mocked Biden. On the other hand, Biden delivered a scathing attack against Trump while likening his campaign for reelection to General George Washington leading troops to victory in the Revolutionary War.