Biden never mentioned Trump by name in his speech, opting instead to reference him 13 times with only with the term “former president.” He pointed out that Trump hasn’t questioned all the elections that took place in November 2020, only the ones he lost, and said the former president has perpetuated three “big lies.”
“The former president of the United States of America 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 interests, than America’s interest, and because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy and our Constitution,” Biden said.
The president added that Trump made history by being the first president to refuse to accept the results of the election despite his own judges ruling against him. Biden said he “failed to make his case” in his fight to overturn the election and criticized him for sowing doubt about the results even before the election took place.
In one of his first mentions of the former president, Biden said Trump and Republicans who “fear his wrath” are perpetuating the “big lie” that the “real insurrection” took place on Election Day. He called the comments “twisted” and asked Americans if they believe that’s what happened when they went to the polls.
The second “big lie” is that the results of the election “can’t be trusted,” Biden said. However, Biden rejected that that’s a valid argument, given how many recounts happened, calling the 2020 election the “most scrutinized” one in the history of the country.
Trump criticized Biden for using his name in his speech to “try to further divide America.” He called his speech “political theater” to distract from the president’s failures. Biden’s criticisms did little to temper Trump’s opinion on the election, saying in a statement shortly after Biden’s speech that the “big lie was the election itself.”
“The Democrats want to own this day of January 6th so they can stoke fears and divide America. I say, let them have it because America sees through their lies and polarizations,” Trump said.
Relating Trump’s behavior back to the Capitol riot, Biden said the third “big lie” he’s spreading is that the Capitol rioters are the nation’s “true patriots.” Biden said the real “true patriots” are people who voted in the election, worked the polls and defended the Capitol during the riot.
“You can’t be patriotic when you embrace and enable lies. Those who stormed this Capitol and those who instigated and incited and those who called on them to do so held a dagger at the throat of America, at American democracy,” Biden said.
