Biden says GOP can’t claim to be party of law and order if they won’t condemn Jan 6: ‘Whose side are you on?’

President has dialled up rhetoric about rising extremism in the GOP and its base

As he continues ramping up his campaign appearances for this year’s midterm elections, Joe Biden used a speech in Pennsylvania to condemn those in the Republican Party who defend the rioters who attacked the US Capitol on January 6 2021.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Wilkes-Barre, Mr Biden reflected that while the lethal attack itself was incredible enough, it was even more incredible to see Republican members who proclaim themselves to be defenders of law enforcement also defending those who attacked and even killed police officers during the riot.

“Cops attacked and assaulted,” he reminded the crowd, “speared with flagpoles, sprayed with mace, stomped on, dragged, brutalised. Police lost their lives as a result of that day. Police lost their lives. One of the officers said it was worse than anything he had experienced in war in Iraq.

“So let me say this to my MAGA Republican friends in Congress: Don’t tell me you support law enforcement if you won’t condemn what happened on the 6th. Don’t tell me. Can’t do it.

“For God’s sake, whose side are you on?  Whose side are you on? Look, you’re either on the side of a mob or the side of the police.  You can’t be pro-law enforcement and pro-insurrection. You can’t be a party of law and order and call the people who attacked the police on January 6th ‘patriots’. You can’t do it.”

Among those in Congress who have previously spoken up for the attackers are hardcore right-wing representatives including Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, who have led an effort to secure “justice” for those who have been imprisoned since the riot.

They have made much of the conditions in which accused rioters are supposedly being held, though hundreds of others who have been arrested and charged have been bailed out in the run-up to their court appearances – the overwhelming majority of which have resulted in guilty pleas.

Other members have also helped propagate claims that the violence of the riot has been overblown, that witnesses to the riot are lying or that the only violence on the day was instigated by agents provocateurs deployed by the federal government.

However, less than a month after the attack, the leaders of both parties attended a funeral service held in the Capitol for officer Brian Sicknick, who died after the insurrection.

Mr Biden has lately stepped up his rhetoric about the hardening extremism displayed by the “Maga” wing of the Republican Party. A few days ago he referred to them as a “semi-fascist” tendency in remarks at a closed-door Democratic fundraiser, triggering a furious reaction from opponents on the right.

He also has called out Trump supporters who have directed threats and abuse at FBI agents, Justice Department staff and a federal judge who were involved in overseeing and carrying out the recent raid on Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago.