Trump claims Biden 'used my name' to 'divide America' in Capitol riot anniversary speech where Biden didn't mention Trump's name once

• Trump raged about Biden and the 2020 election in a statement on the anniversary of the Capitol riot.

• He said Biden, in his earlier speech, "used my name" to "try to further divide America."

• Biden didn't say Trump's name in his speech, instead calling him "the defeated former president."

Former President Donald Trump released a statement on Thursday excoriating President Joe Biden's 25-minute speech observing the anniversary of the deadly Capitol riot.

"Biden, who is destroying our Nation with insane policies of open Borders, corrupt Elections, disastrous energy policies, unconstitutional mandates, and devastating school closures, used my name today to try to further divide America," the statement said.

But Biden didn't say Trump's name once in his speech. He instead referred to his predecessor as "the defeated former president" and blamed him for the violence that unfolded at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Biden added that Trump "can't accept he lost" the election "because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our Constitution."

"Even though that's what 93 United States senators, his own attorney general, his own vice president, governors, and state officials in every battleground state have all said he lost," Biden said. "That's what 81 million of you did when you voted for a new way forward."

Asked afterward why he didn't say Trump's name in his speech, Biden said, "I did not want it to turn into a contemporary political battle between me and the president."

Trump in his statement attacked the Biden administration's immigration policy, foreign policy, and COVID-19 plan, as well as the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.

He also continued to spread lies about the results of the 2020 general election, baselessly claiming it was "rigged" and that it "is leading to our Country destruction."

"Just look at the numbers, they speak for themselves," Trump said, though it was unclear which numbers he was referring to. He has repeatedly pointed to the fact that he received more votes in the 2020 election than any other incumbent in US history — a little more than 74 million — but Biden beat him by nearly 7 million votes, securing both the popular vote and the Electoral College.

Despite Trump and his allies' claims of widespread voter fraud and election malfeasance, bipartisan and nonpartisan election and cybersecurity experts confirmed that the 2020 election was the safest and most secure in US history, even with a huge influx of mail-in voting amid the pandemic.

Biden's victory was also certified by all 50 states and the Electoral College, and nearly every lawsuit the Trump campaign and Republicans filed contesting the results in battleground states resulted in a defeat or a dismissal. Still, the former president says that the election was unfairly stolen from him and that Biden is an illegitimate president.

Trump has also repeatedly hinted at mounting a 2024 presidential campaign, which has sparked debate about whether he's serious about running again.

His former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen says he thinks it's all bluster.

"His insatiable need for attention is one reason he continues to flaunt this disingenuous 2024 run," Cohen told Insider in an interview last year. "The other is he's making more money doing that than anything he has ever done before."

But ultimately, Cohen said, "he'll say he's not going to run again because of bipartisan hatred for him or because of the Democrats or because he doesn't want to put his family through any more."

He added: "He cannot stomach the notion of being a two-time loser, but he will continue to grift until the very last second."

Read the original article on Business Insider