It is a sad day for the United States. On the first anniversary of the murderous assault on the Capitol in Washington, US President Joe Biden will accuse his predecessor Donald Trump on Thursday of still representing a threat to democracy.
The damage caused by the attack on the seat of the Congress of the United States by supporters of the former Republican president, with the aim of overturning the results of the presidential election of November 2020, has been repaired, the elected officials and Capitol staff resumed their work and protective barriers were removed.
But Joe Biden, his Democratic Party and a few rare Republican opponents believe that Donald Trump’s inflammatory statements before the riot, claiming without proof that his electoral defeat was the product of vast fraud, continue to weigh on the political climate.
Donald Trump mis en cause
According to a Reuters / Ipsos opinion poll, around 55% of Republican voters remain convinced by Donald Trump’s accusations, yet rejected by dozens of courts.
“Are we going to be a nation that allows partisan election officials to challenge the popular will that has been expressed legally? Are we going to be a nation that does not live in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies? ? ” will declare Joe Biden in the precincts of the Capitol, according to excerpts from his speech broadcast by the White House.
“We cannot afford to become that kind of nation. To move forward, we must recognize the truth,” said the American president again.
Joe Biden, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday, “is lucid about the threat the former president poses to our democracy and how the former president consistently works to undermine the core values of the government. ‘America and the rule of law’.
No less than five deaths during the attack
Joe Biden’s speech will mark the start of a series of commemorations for the event involving Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders, mostly from the Democratic ranks.
The House of Representatives will not be sitting and many Republican senators will be absent to attend the funeral of former Republican Senator Johnny Isakson, who died in December.
Four people died on the day of the assault, a Capitol policeman defending the building died the next day from his injuries. Some 140 other police officers were injured in the attack and four police officers have killed themselves since then.
The precedent set by Donald Trump makes some commentators fear future chaotic transfers of power, especially in the event of a close result in the presidential election, while Joe Biden won widely in November 2020, with seven million votes from advance on his opponent.
A meeting in Arizona on January 15th
“The fact that the big lie has taken root as it did, and that it has even intensified and worsened over the past twelve months is even more dangerous than January 6 itself,” said Edward Foley, professor of law at Ohio State University.
Donald Trump retains strong popularity with the Republican electorate, weighs on the choice of candidates who will run in the parliamentary elections on November 8 and regularly suggests that he will seek a new presidential term in 2024.
The former president on Tuesday canceled a press conference he planned to organize this Thursday but is due to speak on January 15 at a meeting in Arizona.
Insurgency, “new normal”?
Most Republican officials have stuck with Donald Trump. Shortly after the assault on Capitol Hill, more than half of the elected representatives of the Grand Old Party had voted against the validation of Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.
Some Republican elected officials still seek today to downplay the scope of the January 6 assault, equating the rioters with tourists, or suggesting that the attack may have been carried out by federal agents.
Those who held the former president to account, including Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, have been stigmatized by their colleagues. They are the only two Republicans taking part in a congressional inquiry launched into the events of January 6, in which more than 300 witnesses, including some close advisers to Trump, have already been interviewed. Some 725 people are targeted by criminal proceedings in connection with the assault.
Democrats, meanwhile, hope to use the anniversary to advocate for an overhaul of the federal electoral law, but have yet to muster enough support to ensure its passage in the Senate.
For Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the insurgency may no longer be an “aberration” but “become the norm” unless Congress tackles the “roots” of January 6 with reforms.
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