Washington, Jan 7 US President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump have presented different narratives of January 6, 2021 Capitol riots with the veteran Democrat calling it the day "we nearly lost America" while the business tycoon termed it a "beautiful day".
The US steered through the 3rd anniversary of the Insurrection on Capitol Hill which President Biden called the "Day of Infamy" and Trump retorted saying Biden's address at Valley Forge was a "pathetic fear mongering".
The contrasting views encapsulate how Trump and Biden are approaching the 2024 campaign, and their split over the issue has become a lightning rod, revealing a troubling rift for Americans -- even after more than 890 pleaded guilty or were convicted on charges stemming from the insurrection, including by Trump-appointed judges, USA Today columnists observed.
For Trump, the charges he is facing for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election are not about him.
"I'm being indicted for you," Trump said at a rally in Sioux Center, Iowa on Friday, repeating a central theme of his campaign.
"In the end, they're not after me, they're after you and I just happen to be standing in their way."
For Biden, the attack on the US Capitol epitomised why he ran for president and is running to prevent Trump from returning to the White House.
"Donald Trump's campaign is about him, not America, not you," Biden said in a critique of Trump on Friday that was unusually direct and hard hitting.
"He's willing to sacrifice our democracy, put himself in power."
Biden looked to George Washington to remind Americans of the ideals on which the nation was founded, including the peaceful transition of power.
Trump had Iowa Republicans cheering his hours-long speeches that included his dismissal of January 6, which he insisted was done "patriotically and peacefully".
As Trump and Biden pitched their campaigns for 2024 on January 6 riots saying democracy was at stake, the latest USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll showed most voters are worried about threats to democracy but are divided over who to blame.
Forty per cent surveyed at the end of December said Democrats were chiefly responsible for the threat; another 40 per cent said Republicans were.
January 6, 2021 has become a rallying cry for Trump's base, who sincerely believe the former president’s rebranding of the day as a "peaceful march" against a "rigged election", political observers said.
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