Biden slams Trump over 'medieval hell' of January 6
July 26, 2022
US President Joe Biden on Monday slammed Donald Trump in a recorded video address to Black law enforcement officers.
Biden criticized Trump's decision to isolate in the Oval Office dining room and watch the violence of January 6 unfold on TV rather than undertake action to stop it, as was reported by the Select Committee Investigating the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol.
The address was Biden's first major virtual appointment of the day, followed by a meeting with business leaders on boosting America's semiconductor chip manufacturing capacity.
Law enforcement officers suffered because of Trump's 'lies'
"Brave law enforcement officers were subject to the medieval hell for three hours, dripping in blood, surrounded by carnage, face to face with the crazed mob that believed the lies of the defeated president," Biden told the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives Conference.
The current president's words echoed testimony given by numerous police officers before the Select Committee.
"For three hours, the defeated former president of the United States watched it all happen as he sat in the comfort of the private dining room next to the Oval Office," Biden said in dismay.
He also criticized lawmakers who oppose gun control as not being on the side of police.
Congress looks to tackle chip shortage
The remarks came the same day Biden participated in a virtual meeting on semiconductor chip manufacturing.
At the meeting, the president called semiconductors "the building blocks for the modern economy" and urged Congress to pass a bipartisan bill designed to boost the country's chip manufacturing capacity.
The bill would give around $52 billion in grants and other incentives for the semiconductor industry as well as a 25% tax credit for companies that build chip factories in the US.
"America invented the semiconductor," Biden added. "It's time to bring it home."
The ongoing global chip shortage, which started in 2020, has crippled electronics and automotive manufacturing in the US and around the world.
However, opponents of the bill, including some fiscally conservative Republicans and progressive independent Senator Bernie Sanders, have slammed it as a corporate handout.
Biden set to leave isolation after COVID
Meanwhile, President Biden, who is still in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 last week, said he is "feeling better every day."
It was Biden's first public appearance since last Friday and, if he tests negative, could leave isolation on Tuesday, Dr. Ashish Jha, coordinator of the White House response to COVID-19, said.
Last Thursday, the Select Committee held what is expected to be the last of its public hearings before it reconvenes in September. In it, committee members illustrated several moments throughout the course of the day of January 6 in which Trump refused to reign in supporters despite pleas from his allies, family members and legal advisors to do so.
zc,js/jsi (AFP, AP)