Biden blasts Trump for inaction over 'medieval hell'

US President Joe Biden has denounced his predecessor, Donald Trump, for watching thousands of protesters for hours on January 6, 2021 while police at the US Capitol suffered through a "medieval hell."

"Brave law enforcement officers were subject to the medieval hell for three hours, dripping in blood, surrounded by carnage, face to face with the crazed mob that believed the lies of the defeated president," Biden told the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives Conference on Monday.

"For three hours, the defeated former president of the United States watched it all happen as he sat in the comfort of the private dining room next to the Oval Office," he said.

"The police were heroes that day. Donald Trump lacked the courage to act," Biden said, adding: "You can't be pro-insurrection and pro-cop. You can't be pro-insurrection and pro-democracy. You can't be pro-insurrection and pro-American."

Biden’s criticism of Trump echoed the conclusion of the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 protest march on the Capitol when thousands of people marched against the certification of the November 2020 election which placed Joe Biden in office as the current US president.

The committee is trying to build a case that Trump's efforts to overturn his defeat amounted to illegal conduct, far beyond normal politics.

The panel on Thursday laid out a searing, prime-time indictment of the former president's refusal to halt or condemn the violence.

MG