Biden, Harris denounce Jan. 6 riots three years later: ‘We the People prevailed’

President Biden on Saturday took time to reflect on the three years since rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, asserting that American democracy actually that won that day.

“Three years ago, a violent mob fueled by lies attacked the U.S. Capitol,” Biden posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Our democracy was tested. But it held because We the People prevailed.”

“It’s up to us to prove — for all its imperfections — American democracy is still a beacon to the world and a promise to be kept,” he added.

Vice President Kamala Harris posted an almost identical message, denouncing the insurrection and any attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results that put both Biden and Harris into the White House.

“On January 6, we were reminded that we still have work to do to protect our democracy and our fundamental freedoms,” she wrote.

In his first major speech of the new year, Biden delivered an attack on former President Trump over the Jan. 6 riots. He zeroed in on the insurrection to drive home his argument that the former president and his supporters have embraced extremism, like the kind displayed three years ago.

“Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot,” Biden said in his address in Valley Forge, Pa., on Friday.

As the country enters an election year divided over the significance of the anniversary, experts are sounding the alarm over the state of democracy. Recent polls found that a quarter of Americans believe the conspiracy theory that the FBI organized and encouraged the Capitol attack — and that satisfaction in American democracy is in decline.

The violent insurrection in 2021 led to multiple deaths and the ransacking of the Capitol, the prosecution of Trump and about 1,000 convictions for rioters.

In what has become the largest criminal investigation in American history, prosecutors are still searching for nearly 80 suspects for their role in the insurrection three years later.

As Trump faces a vital Supreme Court decision about the ability to remain on the primary ballot in Colorado for his role in the attack, defendants are attempting to delay their cases until the Supreme Court decides whether the Justice Department legitimately applied obstruction charges.

Biden on Saturday urged his supports not to forget the attacks and called on lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to stand up for democracy.

“For a long time, we’ve told ourselves that American democracy is guaranteed, but it’s not,” Biden said in another X post “Each and every one of us has to defend it, protect it, and stand up for it.”

On his personal account, Biden again ripped Trump for being “willing to sacrifice our democracy to put himself in power.”

“On the anniversary of January 6, I will say what Donald Trump won’t,” the president wrote “Political violence is never EVER acceptable in the United States.”