Outgoing US President Joe Biden has implored Americans to "not act as if nothing happened" on the four-year anniversary of the storming of the Capitol.
"We should be proud that our democracy withstood this assault. And we should be glad we will not see such a shameful attack again this year," he wrote in an opinion piece published in the Washington Post on Sunday. "But we should not forget."
On 6 January 2021, supporters of Trump, who had lost the election a few weeks previously, stormed Capitol Hill, the seat of the US government. The incident led to the death of five people.
Following Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump asked Congress and his vice president to block the certification, falsely claiming widespread fraud had led to his defeat.
"We should not act as if nothing happened," Biden told reporters at the White House on the eve of Congress certifying Trump’s victory.
"I think what he did was a real threat to democracy, and I hope we’ve moved past it," Biden continued. "We should not rewrite or forget it."
Outgoing US President Joe Biden. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
'Smooth transition'
The outgoing president also highlighted his efforts to ensure a "smooth transition." "We need to return to a basic and normal transfer of power," he said.
Biden frequently labelled Trump a threat to democracy when he was the Democratic candidate running against the Republican, before being succeeded by Vice President Kamala Harris.
However, he quickly accepted Trump’s electoral victory and promised a peaceful transfer of power.
Biden’s stance contrasts sharply with that of billionaire Trump, whose challenge to the election defeat four years ago culminated in the violent Capitol assault by his supporters.
More than 170 people have been charged for their participation in the attack. Trump has suggested that "many" of the rioters will be pardoned once he re-enters the Oval Office.
