Extract from ABC News
Former president Donald Trump marked the third anniversary of the January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol by casting a migrant surge on the country's border with Mexico as the "real" insurrection.
Key points:
- Mr Trump held several events in the lead up to the January 15 Iowa caucuses
- He called on Mr Biden to release jailed January 6 rioters, who he described as "hostages"
- Mr Trump attacked Mr Biden, John McCain and his GOP rivals at the events
Campaigning in the Midwest state of Iowa on Saturday, Mr Trump did not explicitly acknowledge the anniversary of the insurrection.
But he continued to claim that countries have been emptying jails and mental institutions to fuel a record number of migrant crossings, even though there is no evidence that is the case.
"When you talk about insurrection, what they're doing, that's the real deal. That's the real deal. Not patriotically and peacefully — peacefully and patriotically," Mr Trump said, quoting from his speech on January 6, 2021, before a violent mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol as part of a desperate bid to keep him in power after his 2020 US election loss.
Mr Trump's remarks in Iowa came a day after Mr Biden delivered a speech near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where he cast Mr Trump as a grave threat to democracy and called January 6 a day when "we nearly lost America — lost it all."
With a likely rematch of the 2020 election looming, both Mr Biden and Mr Trump have frequently invoked January 6 on the campaign trail.
Mr Trump, who is under federal indictment for his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to Mr Biden, has consistently downplayed or spread conspiracy theories about a riot in which his supporters — spurred by his lies about election fraud — tried to disrupt the certification of Mr Biden's win.
Mr Trump also continued to bemoan the treatment of those who have been jailed for participating in the riot, again labelling them "hostages."
More than 1,230 people have been charged with federal crimes connected to the violence, including assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy.
"They ought to release the J6 hostages. They've suffered enough," he said in Clinton, in Iowa's far east.
"Release the J6 hostages, Joe. Release 'em, Joe. You can do it real easy, Joe," he said.
Trump signs memorabilia for voters at caucus lead-up events
Just over a week before the Republican nomination process begins on January 15 with Iowa's kick-off caucuses, Mr Trump was holding commit-to-caucus events in the state on Saturday.
After Mr Trump spoke in Newton, Iowa, he signed hats and other items people in the crowd passed to him, including a copy of a Playboy magazine that featured him on the cover.
One man in the crowd, Dick Green, was standing about 4.5 metres away, weeping after the former president autographed his white "Trump Country" hat and shook his hand.
"It'll never get sold. It will be in my family," Mr Green said of the hat.
A caucus captain and a pastor in Brighton, Iowa, Green said he had prayed for four years to meet Trump.
"I'll never forget it," he said.
"It's just the beginning of his next presidency."
Attacks levelled at Biden, McCain and GOP rivals
Mr Trump spent much of the day assailing Biden, casting him as incompetent and the real threat to democracy.
But he also attacked fellow Republicans, including the late senator John McCain of Arizona, whose "no" vote derailed GOP efforts to repeal former president Barack Obama's signature healthcare law.
"John McCain, for some reason, couldn't get his arm up that day," said Mr Trump of McCain, who was shot down over Vietnam in 1967 and spent 5.6 years as a prisoner of war. The injuries he suffered left him unable to lift his arms over his head for the rest of his life.
His daughter, Meghan McCain, responded on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, calling Mr Trump an expletive and her father an "American hero."
Earlier Saturday, Mr Trump courted young conservative activists in Des Moines, speaking to members of Run GenZ, an organisation that encourages young conservatives to run for office.
Mr Trump's campaign is hoping to turn out thousands of supporters who have never caucused before as part of a show of force aimed at denying his rivals momentum and demonstrating his organising prowess heading into the general election.
His chief rivals, former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, were also campaigning in the state as they battle for second place in hopes of emerging as the most viable alternative to Mr Trump, who is leading by wide margins in early state and national polls.
AP
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