Former US President Donald Trump did not mark the third anniversary of the storming of the Capitol at the first caucus of the year in Iowa, the first state to nominate a Republican presidential candidate.
He did, however, express support for those who stormed the congressional building.
– In ten days, the people of this state will cast the most important vote of their lives, Trump said at the caucus in Iowa, the first state to go to primaries.
Saturday marks the third anniversary of the storming of the Capitol. But Trump shied away from drawing attention to the anniversary when he met with voters on Friday.
He did, however, express his support for those convicted of taking part in the attack and today serving their sentences in prison.
“Hostage”
Trump described them as “hostages” and declared that their treatment will be remembered as “one of the saddest things in the history of our country.”
Over and over, Trump repeated that the 2020 election was stolen from him, the same false claims of voter fraud that motivated the angry mob to storm the United States Congress on January 6, 2021.
President Joe Biden looks set to make the event a central part of his re-election campaign. Earlier on Friday night, he attacked Trump in a campaign speech in Pennsylvania.
– That day we almost lost America, said Biden, referring to the storming of the Capitol.
– Is democracy still sacred to America, Biden asked rhetorically and then continued with direct attacks on Trump for over half an hour.
Attacked Biden
Trump, in turn, swung back and appealed to his supporters to save America from President Biden.
– Joe Biden’s track record is an unbroken streak of weakness, incompetence, corruption and failure, he said.
The Republican primaries – the process by which the party unites behind a presidential candidate – begin in Iowa on January 15.
Trump is holding additional campaign rallies in the state on Saturday.