Democratic President Joe Biden issued a statement on the six-month anniversary of the January 6 Capitol riots. In the statement, he called the riots “a sad reminder that there is nothing guaranteed about our democracy,” though he added that “democracy did prevail” after the riots.
“[The insurrectionists] launched a violent and deadly assault on the people’s house, on the people’s representatives, and on the Capitol police sworn to protect them, as our duly elected Congress carried out the sacred ritual of our republic and certified the Electoral College vote,” Biden wrote.
“While it shocked and saddened the nation and the world,” he continued, “six months later, we can say unequivocally that democracy did prevail—and that we must all continue the work to protect and preserve it.”
He said remaining vigilant against such attacks on democracy requires “people of goodwill and courage to stand up to the hate, the lies, and the extremism that led to this vicious attack, including determining what happened so that we can remember it and not bury it hoping we forget.”
The closing comment may allude to congressional Republican opposition to creating a commission meant to study the riot and how it unfolded.
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Biden closed his statement by saying that the citizens of the U.S. had since proven that “democracy can deliver” by overcoming COVID-19 and restarting the economy. He also said that he and his wife continue to pray for Capitol Police officers killed or injured during the insurrection.
In January, the House impeached then-President Donald Trump for inciting the riots. Numerous people arrested for allegedly participating in the riots have since said that they invaded the Capitol because they believed Trump’s baseless claims that the election had been “stolen” by an unprecedented nationwide conspiracy of widespread voter fraud.
Despite Biden’s claim that “democracy did prevail,” most Republicans continue to blame Democrats for causing the riots.
Polls have shown that 75 percent of Republicans believe Trump’s baseless claim that Biden only won due to widespread voter fraud. Another poll showed that 45 percent of Republican voters supported the rioters. Some Republican Congress members have also complained that arrested rioters are being punished too harshly.
A more recent poll found that 41 percent of Republican voters blame Biden for causing the riots, and 52 percent blame congressional Democrats. An earlier poll found that 56 percent of Republicans thought Trump did “everything he could” to stop the insurrection.
Hours before the insurrection, Trump led a “Stop the Steal” rally saying that fraud on such a grand scale had never before stolen a U.S. election from voters before. About 60 election fraud lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign and Republican officials were dismissed from courts due to lack of evidence.
Also marking the riots’ six-month anniversary, on Tuesday, the FBI released 11 new videos showing suspects allegedly committing assaults against law enforcement officers during the attempted insurrection.
The FBI said that it hoped that people would help identify the men in the videos so they could locate and arrest them. As of July 6, the FBI has arrested over 500 suspected rioters. More than 100 were arrested for allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers.
