Joe Biden Says He Is 'Not Afraid' to Take Oath of Office Outside Capitol Hill After Riots
President-elect Joe Biden said Monday he was not afraid about taking the oath of office outside Capitol Hill after some supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the building last week.
“No I’m not … I’m not afraid of taking the oath outside,” Biden replied when asked by a reporter about the upcoming inauguration ceremony on January 20.
Biden spoke to reporters after receiving his second coronavirus vaccine shot at a Delaware medical center on Monday.
The president-elect said that the individuals who stormed Capitol Hill and damaged public property should face prosecution for their actions.
“It think that it is critically important that there be a real serious focus on holding those folks who engaged in sedition, and threatened people’s lives, defaced public property, caused grave damage, that they be held accountable,” Biden said.
U.S. Capitol Police said they had arrested 14 suspected of involvement in the rioting, most charged with unlawful entry, while the Metropolitan Police Department made at least 68 arrests. The Justice Department said they had filed 55 criminal cases from the “Stop the Steal” rally and surrounding events.
Biden said he felt that both political parties agreed it necessary to charge and prosecute the individuals involved with the riots.
“I think that’s a view that is held by a vast majority of Republicans and Democrats in the Congress,” he said.