Joe Biden warns Russia, China are betting against US democracy during Jan 6 address

US President Joe Biden has cautioned US citizens that countries such as China and Russia believe America‘s democratic days “are numbered.”

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“They’re betting that America is a place for the autocrat, the dictator, the strongman,” he said.

According to Biden, these ideas are incompatible with the principles that the Founding Fathers envisioned for America.

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“That is not who we are. That is not who we have ever been. And that is not who we should ever, ever be. Our Founding Fathers, as imperfect as they were, set a motion and experiment that changed the world … Power would be transferred peacefully, never at the tip of a spear or a barrel of a gun,” he said. “The former president who lies about this election and the mob that attacked this Capitol could not be further away from the core American values.”

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President Biden ended his speech commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Capitol attack on a positive note, stating that January 6 “marks not the end of democracy, but the beginning of a renaissance of liberty and fair play.”

“I know how difficult democracy is. I’m crystal clear about the threats America faces. I also know our darkest days can lead to light and hope from the death and destruction the vice president referenced in Pearl Harbor, from the brutality of Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus bridge came historic voting rights legislation,” Biden continued. 

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“I will stand in this breach, I will defend this nation, I will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of democracy. We will make sure the will of the people is heard, that the ballot prevails, not violence, but authority in this nation will always be peacefully transferred,” he further added. 

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“I believe the power of the presidency and the purpose is to unite this nation, not divide it. To lift us up, not tear us apart. It is about us, about us, not about me. Deep in the heart of America burns a flame, almost 250 years ago, of liberty, freedom and equality,” the President concluded.