Joe Biden slams DC mayhem in speech

THE President-elect removed his black mask, put it neatly aside next to his microphone and apologised for the circumstances of his remarks.

“All of you have been watching what I’ve been watching,” Mr Biden said, his voice freighted with anger and disgust.

“At this hour our democracy is under unprecedented assault,” he went on, pausing frequently to allow the gravity of his words to register.

Americans, he said, were witnessing “an assault on the rule of law like few times we have ever seen it”.

The uprising “borders on sedition”, he declared.

“What we’re seeing is a small number of extremists, dedicated to lawlessness. This is not dissent. It’s disorder. It’s chaos. It borders on sedition and it must end. Now,” he said.

“I call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to go forward.

“You’ve heard me say before in a different context, the words of a president matter, no matter how good or bad that president is. At their best the words of a president can inspire. At their worst they can incite.

“Therefore I call on President Trump to go on national television now to fulfil his oath and defend the constitution and demand an end to this siege.”

Mr Biden served as a senator for 36 years and then a further eight years as a regular visitor to the halls of Congress in his role as vice president between 2009 and 2017.

“We will prevail again. The work of the next four years must be the restoration of democracy, of decency, honour, respect, the rule of law. Just plain, simple decency,” Mr Biden said.