Joe Biden reacts after Trump's acquittal, urges vigilance to defend 'fragile' democracy

In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s senate acquittal, US President Joe Biden has urged Americans to defend the country’s “fragile” democracy and refrain from violent activities. “Each of us has a duty and responsibility as Americans, and especially as leaders, to defend the truth and to defeat the lies,” he added in a statement. Although he said that Trump’s acquittal in his second impeachment trial was a “sad chapter in our history”, he asserted that the substance of the charge was not in dispute.

Elaborating on the trial, Biden acknowledged that 56 Senators, including seven Republicans, had found Trump guilty of inciting the insurrection on US democracy. Even those who opposed the conviction, like Senate Minority Leader McConnell, believe Donald Trump was guilty of a “disgraceful dereliction of duty” and “practically and morally responsible for provoking” the violence unleashed on the Capitol.

He moved on to remember all those who bravely stood to guard the Capitol Complex on that ‘January day’, those whose lives were taken or threatened. "I’m thinking of those who demonstrated the courage to protect the integrity of our democracy – Democrats and Republicans, election officials and judges, elected representatives and poll workers – before and after the election.," he said.

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Trump's acquittal 

The Former United States President Donald Trump on Saturday has been acquitted in his unprecedented second impeachment trial for inciting violence on the U.S Capitol on January 6, 2021. Over a month after the Capitol violence, the Senate assembled for a rare weekend session to deliver its verdict, voting while armed National Guard troops continued to stand their posts outside the iconic building. Trump is the only president to has been impeached twice.

The former Republican President was impeached by the House of Representatives by 232-197 votes on January 13 over ‘Incitement of insurrection’. This was in the aftermath of his supporters storming inside the US Capitol on January 6 and engulfing the nation’s capital in chaos. The dramatic clips of pro-Trump protesters chanting inside the halls of the building, breaking windows, stealing federal property, sent shock waves across the globe. 

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