President Joe Biden, in a speech Monday, compared protesters in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot to Confederate soldiers unable to accept defeat in the Civil War.
Biden visited Mother Emanuel, one of the oldest black churches in the South, on Monday, just days after Vice President Kamala Harris made a similar visit to speak at the Seventh Episcopal District AME Church Women's Missionary Association. He gave a speech at the AME church. In his speech, the president said that Confederate soldiers who could not accept the outcome of the Civil War embraced the “lost cause,” and then began talking about the Capitol riot, saying Americans were now in the era of “the cause.” He added that he is alive. The second lost cause. ” (Related article: Biden speech goes off track as pro-Palestinian protesters begin ceasefire chants)
“After the Civil War, the defeated Confederacy could not accept the verdict of the war. They lost,” Biden said. “So they say they bought into the so-called 'Lost Cause,' a self-serving lie that the Civil War was not about slavery but about states' rights. They called it a noble cause. That was a lie.”
“Now we live in the era of a second lost cause,” Biden continued. “Once again, there are people in this country who are trying to lie about their losses. Lies that, if left unchecked, will once again be devastating to this country, and this time they are about the 2020 election.” An election that made your voice heard. And your power is known.”
“Just two days ago, we marked the third anniversary of January 6th, one of the darkest days in American history,” Biden said. “The day in American history, for the first time in American history, insurrectionists stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power in our country.”
Biden delivered his first campaign speech of the year in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, marking the third anniversary of the Capitol riot. The speech was originally scheduled for Memorial Day, but had to be rescheduled due to weather concerns.
Prior to his speech, Biden met with a coalition of historians who reportedly urged the president to use more aggressive language regarding the stakes of the 2024 election and “ongoing threats to our democracy.” . The next day, the president's re-election campaign released a campaign video labeling former President Donald Trump's supporters as an “extremist movement.”
“Something dangerous is happening in America right now. There is an extremist movement that does not share the fundamental beliefs of our democracy,” Biden narrates in the ad, referring to the people who participated in the Capitol riot. Photos of Trump supporters who did so were also circulated. “The question for all of us now is what we will do to preserve our democracy.”
Biden seemed furious as he went on to claim that the Capitol riot was “violent” and added that Republicans were trying to paint it as peaceful.
“They tried to steal the election. And now they're trying to steal the history that there was a violent mob. I quote 'peaceful protests.'” That riot, that riot. That they were patriots. There was a famous saying, “There was a lot of love that day.'' In fact, we saw a lot of hatred and violence in other parts of the country and the world. ”
