Biden’s speech clarified who was to blame for the insurrection – Donald Trump

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President Joe Biden on Thursday gave perhaps the strongest and most compelling speech in his long political life. Gone is the begging, folksy, embarrassing tone that often permeates his public statements. Instead, he slammed the attack against Donald Trump, the man most deserving to be called for inciting insurrection on January 6, 2021. This is what Americans voted Joe Biden. If Biden can maintain this level of energy, passion, and focus in his public statements, he could save his presidency and stop sowing careers for another Trump presidential bid.

Biden laid out in explicit terms why Trump was fully responsible for the siege of the Capitol – and he insisted on not uttering words, calling it what it was: an “insurrection.” Biden also raised the sternest warning, saying there was “a dagger in America’s throat” and added: “We are in a battle for the soul of America.”

This is not hyperbole. The continued efforts of Trump and GOP congressional leaders to avoid talking about insurgency while demonstrating hardened rationalizations for Trump’s support here require daily reminders that, no, everyone is not fixed. This country’s democracy is hanging by a thread because the GOP leadership refuses to prioritize the defense of that democracy over their selfish partisan interests.

Biden clarified why such a distinction is necessary. The insurrectionists Trump pointed out at the Capitol are “not seeking to uphold the will of the people. They are seeking to deny the will of the people.… They are not seeking to promote a free and fair election. They are seeking to overthrow one. They don’t seek to save America’s cause. They’re trying to destroy the Constitution. “

There isn’t even a word in that statement that Republican leaders can blame, because that’s the truth. So they responded by accusing Biden and the Democrats of making the attack a partisan issue. That’s rich.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who on Jan. 6 labeled the attackers as “criminals” and laid total responsibility for the attack at Trump’s feet, blamed Democrats on Thursday for doing the big thing about this.

Si Sen. Lindsey Graham, who denounced Trump in Jan. 6 and declared that he already had “enough” of the president’s antics, now once again kneeling in full submission at Trump’s altar. He slammed Biden on Thursday for what he called “shameless politics on Jan. 6.”

Equally discouraging is the cowardly silence from Republicans like Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt and Rep. Ann Wagner of Ballwin, and the tacit defense of Sen. Trump’s coup attempt. Josh Hawley and Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis of Taylorville.

There is no gray area when it comes to Jan. 6. There is right and there is wrong. Any politician who fails to take an aggressive stance in defending American democracy in this time of danger will have no business continuing in elective office.

– St. Louis Post-dispatch Editorial Board

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