Biden to blame ‘chaos and carnage’ of Trump for 6 January: ‘A tragic culmination of those four years’

Joe Biden will blame Donald Trump for the ‘chaos and carnage’ of 6 January in a speech to mark the one-year anniversary of the violent insurrection on Capitol Hill.

The president will take direct aim at his predecessor “to speak to the truth of what happened, not the lies that some have spread since”, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

“Just as you heard him say on January 6 last year, I would expect President Biden to lay out the significance of what happened at the Capitol and the singular responsibility that President Trump has for the chaos and carnage that we saw,” she said at her daily press briefing.

One year ago the pro-Trump mob forced its way past police barricades and stormed the Capitol Building in an attempt to prevent Congress from ratifying Joe Biden’s election defeat of Mr Trump.

Four people at the rally died on 6 January, with three others dying from “medical emergencies” at the same time.

Following the attack, four more police officers who were on duty that day died by suicide.

“The president is going to speak to the truth of what happened not the lies that have have spread since, and the peril it posed to the rule of law and our system of democratic governance” added Ms Psaki as she previewed the speech on Wednesday.

She added that the president would also address what steps needed to be taken to protect American democracy, “to reject the hatred and lies that we saw on January 6 and to unite our country.”

“President Biden has been clear-eyed about the threat that the former president represents to our democracy and how the former president constantly works to undermine basic American values and the rule of law.”

Prosecutors have charged more than 700 people with alleged crimes, with at least 225 people charged with assaulting or resisting law enforcement officers.

Officials say that around 140 members of law enforcement were assaulted during the riot.

Ms Psaki added that Mr Biden has spoken about the ways in which Mr Trump “abused his office, undermined the constitution and ignored his oath of office” in an attempt to “amass more power for himself and his allies”.

And she added: “He sees January 6 as a tragic culmination of what those four years under President Trump did to our country.”

“He will forcibly push back on the lies spread by the former president in an attempt to mislead the American people and his own supporters, as well as to distract from his own role in what happened.”

Ms Psaki refused to confirm if Mr Biden would call out Mr Trump directly by name, but said that “people will know who he is referring to”.