2021 Capitol riot should follow Trump ‘to his grave’ — Biden

Photo: Sean Rayford / Getty Images News / Getty Images

Former United States President Joe Biden has said President Donald Trump should never escape responsibility for the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, declaring that the incident “should follow him to his grave”.

Biden made the remarks in an excerpt from his forthcoming memoir published by The Atlantic on Monday, in which he also criticised Trump for pardoning supporters convicted over the attack on the US Capitol.

“The criminals who attacked law-enforcement officers that day didn’t deserve pardons,” Biden wrote. “They deserved prison terms.”

The former president accused Trump and his administration of seeking to undermine democratic institutions and fuel divisions in the country.

Biden also condemned Trump’s response to the violence, accusing him of turning a blind eye to attacks on law enforcement officers during the riot.

“You don’t get to turn a blind eye to cops being punched, speared, sprayed, and brutalised and call yourself a friend of law enforcement,” he wrote.

“What Trump did on January 6, 2021, should never be forgotten. It should follow him to his grave,” Biden added.

The January 6 riot occurred after Trump addressed supporters at a rally in Washington, DC, as Congress prepared to certify Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the certification process.

After returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump pardoned more than 1,000 people convicted over their involvement in the riot and commuted the sentences of a dozen members of far-right groups, including the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.

Trump defended the pardons, saying the affected individuals “have been destroyed”.

Related News

• US warns of growing ISIS threat to African maritime trade
• Police arrest protesters as Biden visits son in Dublin varsity2
• Trump ally Jim Jordan elected House Republican leader

Responding to the BBC’s request for comment on Biden’s remarks, White House spokesperson Lauren Bis described the former president as “the worst president in American history”.

Bis also criticised Biden’s record in office, accusing his administration of creating a border crisis, being soft on crime, contributing to high inflation and pursuing what she called “America-Last policies”.

In the memoir excerpt, Biden also recounted a lengthy meeting with Trump following the latter’s victory in the 2024 presidential election.

He said he was surprised when Trump reportedly told him that, “if it weren’t for politics, I believe we’d be good friends”.

Biden said the remark left him “too stunned to respond”.

“He said my performance on job creation had been ‘extraordinary,’” Biden wrote, adding that Trump also said he had been relieved not to face him in the election.

The former president said he did not understand why Trump was complimenting him and moved the conversation to the issues they needed to discuss.

The memoir is scheduled for release later in November.

Biden, who served one term as president, has been undergoing treatment for prostate cancer and has limited his promotional activities for the book.

In a social media post on Sunday, he spoke about his experience with the illness, saying some days were better than others.

“Some days are better than others,” Biden wrote. “It hasn’t stopped me. But sometimes it slows me down.”