Donald Trump has responded to President Joe Biden's national address on the first anniversary of the deadly Capitol riots.
Yesterday, Biden delivered a speech to the American people to commemorate one year since the US Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
In his speech yesterday, Biden did not mention Trump by name once. Instead, he referred to his predecessor as "the former president".
"We must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie," Biden said yesterday. "And here’s the truth: The former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election."
He then lambasted Trump for "sitting in the private dining room off the Oval Office in the White House, watching it all on television and doing nothing for hours as police were assaulted, lives at risk, and the nation’s Capitol under siege."
Biden then described the riots as "an armed insurrection", formed of people who were "looking to deny the will of the people."
Referencing the Trump administration's repeated unfounded claims of voter fraud in the 2020 US presidential election, Biden said: "You can't love your country only when you win."
Following the address, Trump has released a statement criticizing Biden's speech as "political theater" and an attempt to distract from how Biden has "failed".
Trump said, per The Independent: "Biden, who is destroying our Nation with insane policies of open Borders, corrupt Elections, disastrous energy policies, unconstitutional mandates, and devastating school closures, used my name today to try to further divide America."
According to the Daily Mail, Biden said following his speech that he didn't refer to Trump by name because he didn't want to turn the issue of the January 6 riots "into a contemporary political battle" between Trump and himself.
In a second statement, Trump said: "Biden is working hard to try and deflect the incompetent job he is doing, and has done, on the horrible Afghanistan withdrawal (surrender), the borders, Covid, inflation, loss of energy independence, and much more."
Trump, once again repeating unfounded claims of election fraud, added: "Everything he touches turns to failure. That’s what you get when you have a rigged election."
The deadly riots occurred after Trump delivered a speech to his supporters, in which he said: "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard."
However, what followed was a violent breach on the US Capitol building, forcing Biden's certification process to be paused as Senate was placed on an immediate recess. The attack resulted in five deaths and left many others injured, including 138 police officers.
A further four officers have died by suicide, Reuters reports.
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