Marking the one-year anniversary of the deadly Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, President Joe Biden delivered his most forceful rebuke to date of Donald Trump, his incessant lying about the 2020 election, and his ongoing attack on American democracy.
Though Biden never once mentioned Trump by name, he repeatedly referred to him as "the former president," turning it into a blistering rhetorical cudgel against a man whose greatest mortal fear—it's indeed existential—is being a loser.
"He's not just a former president, he's a defeated former president," Biden emphatically stated Thursday, about a third of the way through the 25-minute speech he delivered from Statuary Hall in the Capitol.
But Trump's loss wasn't just one pointed line Biden uttered on the way to making other points. "He lost" was, in fact, the central theme of a speech aimed at rallying every remaining sane American around the goal of saving our democracy.
“Here’s the truth: The former president of the United States has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He's done so because he values power over principle, because he sees his own interest as more important than his country's interest—than America’s interest—and because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our Constitution.
“He can't accept he lost.
"Even though that's what 93 U.S. senators, his own attorney general, his own vice president, governors, and state officials in every battleground state have said.
"He lost."
But the current president had plenty more to say about the former president:
"The former president and his supporters have decided the only way for them to win is to suppress your vote and subvert our elections. It's wrong. It's undemocratic. And, frankly, it's un-American,” Biden said.
"The former president's supporters are trying to rewrite history. They want you to see Election Day as the day of insurrection and the riot [...] as a true expression of the will of the people. Can you think of a more twisted way to look at this country?" Biden explained.
Biden also appealed directly to every reality-based American who cast a vote in 2020 to view the lies Trump and Republicans have peddled as a direct attack on the will of the people.
Trump was “defeated by 7 million of your votes in a free and fair election," he noted.
"The big lie being told by the former president and many Republicans who fear his wrath is that the insurrection in this country actually took place on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020.
"Think about that. Is that what you thought? Is that what you thought when you voted that day—[that you were] taking part in an insurrection?
"Or did you think you were carrying out your highest duty as a citizen?"
Biden ended the speech by pledging that he would not “shrink” from the battle at hand, even though it isn’t the one he chose.
"I did not seek this fight brought to this Capitol one year ago today, but I will not shrink from it either,” he said. “I will stand in this breach. I will defend this nation. And I will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of democracy.”
Finally the president noted, “Here in America the people rule, through the ballot, and their will prevails.”
The complete transcript of President Biden’s speech can be found here.
Though Biden never once mentioned Trump by name, he repeatedly referred to him as "the former president," turning it into a blistering rhetorical cudgel against a man whose greatest mortal fear—it's indeed existential—is being a loser.
"He's not just a former president, he's a defeated former president," Biden emphatically stated Thursday, about a third of the way through the 25-minute speech he delivered from Statuary Hall in the Capitol.
But Trump's loss wasn't just one pointed line Biden uttered on the way to making other points. "He lost" was, in fact, the central theme of a speech aimed at rallying every remaining sane American around the goal of saving our democracy.
“Here’s the truth: The former president of the United States has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He's done so because he values power over principle, because he sees his own interest as more important than his country's interest—than America’s interest—and because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our Constitution.
“He can't accept he lost.
"Even though that's what 93 U.S. senators, his own attorney general, his own vice president, governors, and state officials in every battleground state have said.
"He lost."
But the current president had plenty more to say about the former president:
"The former president and his supporters have decided the only way for them to win is to suppress your vote and subvert our elections. It's wrong. It's undemocratic. And, frankly, it's un-American,” Biden said.
"The former president's supporters are trying to rewrite history. They want you to see Election Day as the day of insurrection and the riot [...] as a true expression of the will of the people. Can you think of a more twisted way to look at this country?" Biden explained.
Biden also appealed directly to every reality-based American who cast a vote in 2020 to view the lies Trump and Republicans have peddled as a direct attack on the will of the people.
Trump was “defeated by 7 million of your votes in a free and fair election," he noted.
"The big lie being told by the former president and many Republicans who fear his wrath is that the insurrection in this country actually took place on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020.
"Think about that. Is that what you thought? Is that what you thought when you voted that day—[that you were] taking part in an insurrection?
"Or did you think you were carrying out your highest duty as a citizen?"
Biden ended the speech by pledging that he would not “shrink” from the battle at hand, even though it isn’t the one he chose.
"I did not seek this fight brought to this Capitol one year ago today, but I will not shrink from it either,” he said. “I will stand in this breach. I will defend this nation. And I will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of democracy.”
Finally the president noted, “Here in America the people rule, through the ballot, and their will prevails.”
The complete transcript of President Biden’s speech can be found here.