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On Thursday, President Joe Biden delivered remarks commemorating the year anniversary of the deadly January 6 insurrection, when a mob of pro-Trump extremists stormed the United States Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election.
Biden sharply condemned the continued lies about the election's validity and called on Americans to reject the right-wing figures exploiting them for profit.
He also excoriated Trump, who continues to peddle the fantasy that the 2020 election was "stolen" from him.
Biden said of Trump:
"He's not just a former president. He's a defeated former president."
And he vowed:
"I did not seek this fight brought to this Capitol one year ago today, but I will not shrink from it either. I will stand in this breach. I will defend this nation. And I will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of democracy."
Many of Biden's supporters praised the speech.
But Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina—a longtime friend of Biden's—accused the President of politicizing the Capitol Riots, and proceeded to ask a bizarre question invoking the Taliban.
What brazen politicization of January 6 by President Biden.
I wonder if the Taliban who now rule Afghanistan with al-Qaeda elements present, contrary to President Biden’s beliefs, are allowing this speech to be carried?
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 6, 2022
Republicans have long decried the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, but it's unclear what relation Graham thinks the Taliban has to the Capitol Insurrection, or why a right-wing riot should be above politicization.
People were confused.
Is the idea here that the riot itself was apolitical? https://t.co/3zhMMA4aKw
— Philip Bump (@pbump) January 6, 2022
What does "politicization of January 6" mean? It was a political event. There's no non-political meaning to it. https://t.co/jMYVOBXeLB
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) January 6, 2022
Why is it so important for Lindsey Graham that this speech be broadcast by the Taliban? https://t.co/E1o3Dp08ch
— doorknob (@kenmegalopsuxos) January 6, 2022
Does he think the people who stormed the Capitol weren’t acting politically? https://t.co/neC99cDyKi
— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) January 6, 2022
How does one "politicize" something that happened for political reasons? EVERY person that voted not to certify the voice of the people was a member of the Republican Party. If the shoe fits. #NeverForgetJanuary6th https://t.co/YqFcyaOcU8
— Victor Ruiz -The Voice Of Rican- (@portarican_RT) January 6, 2022
1st, how is Jan 6 not a politicized event? By its nature it is politicized, right?
Also, the Taliban? Wut? https://t.co/4AZ3afdII9
— the undecider (@banthaskull) January 6, 2022
Graham—who himself was part of Trump's effort to overturn the election results—was heavily criticized.
You hideous coward. https://t.co/4qpLgsh3zQ
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 6, 2022
I just wrote about republicans giving up on democracy instead of trumpism, this is an extremely good example of it. https://t.co/n1xvacdFLy https://t.co/ZFJGnwBdGZ
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) January 6, 2022
It took Lindsey Graham just a couple weeks to go from "humiliated and embarrassed" after the attack on the Capitol to flying down to Mar-a-Lago to golf and bear hug Donald Trump. #MrCountMeOut https://t.co/9mZXCdClSW
— Jaime Harrison, DNC Chair (@harrisonjaime) January 6, 2022
For his critics, it's clear where Graham's allegiances lie.