President Joe Biden said Monday that former President Donald Trump “lacked the courage to act” on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters took over the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the Electoral College’s vote certification.
“For three hours, the defeated former president of the United States watched it all unfold as he sat in the comfort of the private dining room next to the Oval Office,” Mr. Biden said. “While he was doing this, brave law enforcement officers were subjected to medieval hell for three hours.
Mr. Biden, who is recovering from COVID-19, made the comments in a virtual address to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives on Monday. His remarks came amid the final public hearing of the summer by the House special committee investigating the attack.
Brave women and men in uniform across America must never forget that the defeated former President of the United States watched January 6th unfold and did not have the backbone to act.
In my remarks today to @noblenatl I made this clear: pic.twitter.com/uO60QO0Wrz
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 25, 2022
The bombshell public hearings revealed new information about Trump’s actions before Jan. 6 and the day rioters stormed the Capitol. Congressman Adam Kinzinger, a Republican on the committee, told Thursday’s hearing that “the crowd was serving President Trump’s purpose and he did not intervene.”
“You saw what happened,” Mr. Biden said on Monday. “The Capitol Police, the D.C. Metropolitan Police, other law enforcement agencies were assaulted and assaulted before our eyes — stabbed, sprayed, stomped on, brutally abused. And lives were lost.”
Mr. Biden credited the police for their role in ending the riot and suggested that Trump supporters could not claim to be pro-police but supported the Capitol rioters.
“You can’t be pro-riots and pro-cops,” Mr. Biden said. “You cannot be pro-rebel and pro-democracy. You can’t be pro-rebel and pro-American.”
Monday’s remarks were some of Mr. Biden’s strongest comments yet about his predecessor and Jan. 6. Mr. Biden waived executive privileges for members of Mr. Trump’s inner circle, but largely let the House committee’s work speak for itself.
Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the committee’s vice chairwoman, said Sunday on CNN that the committee has not yet decided whether to refer Trump’s Justice Department. While a House committee is investigating the attack, only the Justice Department can charge an individual with a crime.
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