Biden touts prosecution of political opponents in Jan. 6 anniversary speech

President Joe Biden delivered what many considered to be his first true campaign speech of the electoral season on Friday, and in it, he heralded the prosecution of individuals who showed support for his top political rival at the U.S. Capitol three years ago, as the Daily Wire reports.

The scene of Biden's remarks was Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, selected due to its proximity to Valley Forge so that the president's boosters could draw tortured analogies to his candidacy and the legacy of George Washington.

Focus on Trump

Rather than delivering a speech embodying the themes of unity on which he campaigned in 2020, Biden used his time in Pennsylvania to focus largely on former President Donald Trump, those who supported him in the past, and those who hope to see him elected to another term in the White House.

Referencing the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Biden seemed almost giddy about the volume of prosecutions of everyday Americans that followed.

“Since that day, more than 1,200 people have been charged for their assault on the Capitol, and nearly 900 of them have been convicted or pled guilty,” Biden boasted.

The president added. “Collectively to date, they have been sentenced to more than 840 years in prison,” a tally that sparked applause from those in attendance.

Biden then turned his attention to his presumed November opponent, saying, “What's Trump done? Instead of calling them criminals, he's called these insurrectionists 'patriots'...and he promises to pardon them if he returns to office.”

“Insurrection” not charged

Notably, despite Biden's characterization of Jan. 6 demonstrators as “insurrectionists,” that specific charge has yet to be leveled at the hundreds of individuals who have been prosecuted for their conduct on that fateful day.

The DOJ has, according to the Daily Wire, charged 452 individuals on counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees, with 123 of those also charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to a law enforcement officer.

Indeed, the lion's share of charges against individuals present at the Capitol have been for “entering or remaining in a restricted federal building or grounds,” which, to most ears, sounds like a far cry from an offense as grave as insurrection.

Elusive offenders

As NBC affiliate WFLA in Florida reported over the weekend, the FBI just revealed that after three years of searching, it had located a Lakeland fugitive wanted for his involvement in the Jan. 6 unrest and had taken two others into custody as well.

Interestingly, however, Biden remains unable to brag about the apprehension of perhaps the most notorious criminal or criminals surrounding Jan. 6, namely, those responsible for planting pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republican Party headquarters in Washington, D.C., an apparently baffling scenario which critics suggests has never sparked anywhere near the level of investigatory intensity as the Biden DOJ's desire to send Capitol protestors, i.e., Trump supporters, to jail.