Trump would have stopped Jan 6 rioters if they were black, Biden suggests
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Joe Biden has suggested that Donald Trump would have acted more quickly to stop the Jan 6 insurrection at the US Capitol if the protesters had been black.
Mr Biden said on Sunday that he could “only imagine” how Mr Trump would have reacted if the demonstration had not been led by white people, as he fought to restore his support among black voters.
Speaking at dinner by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Detroit, Mr Biden presented the hypothetical to an audience of around 5,000 racial equality campaigners.
“Let me ask you, what do you think he would have done on January 6 if black Americans had stormed the Capitol?” he said.
“No, I’m serious. What do you think? I can only imagine.”
Mr Trump has been criticised for reacting too slowly to the insurrection on Jan 6 2021, when demonstrators stormed the Capitol Building in Washington DC to protest against his loss in the 2020 presidential election.
The former president has said that he wanted to go to the Capitol to join the protesters, but that he was prevented from doing so by Secret Service agents, who feared for his safety.
A congressional panel investigating the riots said that Mr Trump had delayed responding for hours, even after the protesters called for his vice president, Mike Pence, to be hanged.
He eventually released a video calling for the demonstrators to go home. Some stormed the Capitol Building itself, roaming corridors that contain the offices of members of Congress.
The January 6 demonstration was largely led by white Americans, some of whom were later found to be members of far-Right and white supremacist organisations.
Mr Biden has launched a campaign to win back the support of Black Americans, after polls showed that many who voted for him in 2020 do not intend to do so again in November’s presidential election.
Some of the black voters turning against Mr Biden live in key swing states, including Georgia and Michigan, and may turn the election against him.
On Sunday, the US president accused Republicans of undermining African American history.
“Extremists close the doors of opportunity, strike down affirmative action, attack the values of diversity, equality and inclusion,” he said.
“They don’t see you in the future of America, but they’re wrong. We know black history is American history.”
Mr Biden’s campaign has highlighted work his administration has done to support black-owned businesses and close racial income and wealth disparity.
