"I was going to talk about the economy," US President-elect Joe Biden said Wednesday at a press briefing amid an unprecedented attack on the US Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump who were attempting to stop Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election.
Instead, Biden said, "Our democracy is under unprecedented assault. This is an assault on the most sacred of American undertakings -- the doing of the people's business."
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"The scenes we are seeing at the Capitol do not represent who we are, they are a small number of extremists. I call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to go forward," Biden said.
"The words of a president matter. At their best, they can inspire. At worst, they can incite," Biden continued, urging Trump to go on television immediately and "fulfill his oath" to uphold democracy.
"This isn't protest, it's insurrection. I am shocked and saddened... our nation, so long a beacon of hope and light has come to such a dark moment. The work of the next four years must be the restoration of democracy, of rule of law," he said.
"America is about honor, decency, toleration. That's who we are. For nearly two and a half centuries, we the people have kept our eyes on the common good. America is so much better than what we are seeing today," Biden concluded.
After stepping down from the podium, Biden said emphatically, "Enough is enough is enough."
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