GOP lawmakers 'can't be pro-law enforcement and pro-insurrection,' Biden says

President Biden directly addressed his "MAGA Republican friends in Congress" on Tuesday, saying you can't claim to "support law enforcement if you don't condemn what happened on the 6th. For God's sake, whose side are you on?"

Biden was referring to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when dozens of officers were injured as a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol. "You can't be pro-law enforcement and pro-insurrection," he continued. "You can't be a party of law and order and call the people who attacked the police on Jan. 6 patriots. You can't do it."

YouTube

Watch On

The president made his remarks in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, during a speech about his Safer America Plan. He also mentioned the FBI agents who have been threatened since executing a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump's Florida home, earlier this month as part of an investigation into Trump's handling of classified information. "It's sickening to see the new attacks on the FBI," Biden said, calling out the threats made against the lives of "law enforcement agents and their families for simply carrying out the law and doing their job."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

As part of his Safer America Plan, Biden wants to see 100,000 police officers hired across the United States. "The answer is not to defund the police," he said. "It's fund the police." At the same time, "there should be more training, more help, and more accountability," Biden continued. "Increased trust makes policing more effective and it strengthens public safety in the communities."