Biden sees American democracy in danger after the Capitol attack

Nearly a year and a half after the storming of the US Capitol in January 2021, President Joe Biden still sees democracy in the United States as in jeopardy. “The same forces that led to the sixth of January are still at work today,” Biden said in a speech in the Port of Los Angeles on Friday before congressional hearings in Washington. “We have to protect our democracy.” He himself could not have imagined such a challenge.

Biden said the “battle for the soul of America” ​​was far from over. “It is important that the American people understand what really happened.”

The US president referred to the first plenary session of the commission of inquiry into the storming of the Capitol on Thursday evening (local time). Further hearings are scheduled in the coming weeks.

Trump stirred things up

On January 6, 2021, supporters of then-Republican President Donald Trump stormed the Houses of Parliament in Washington, DC. They wanted to prevent confirmation of Biden’s victory in the November 2020 elections. Many people died as a result.

Trump had earlier incited his supporters at a rally to steal his election victory. He later faced impeachment but was acquitted. An investigation committee was formed to clarify the background to the attack.

Biden called the attack “one of the darkest chapters in our country’s history” and a “brutal attack on our democracy.” But together, across party lines, it is possible to defend the nation and ensure that no one can “put a dagger at the throat of our democracy.” The Democrat took power days after storming the Capitol. It is far from the goal of reuniting the deeply divided country.

(dsc/sda/dpa)

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