What President Donald Trump did on Jan. 6, 2021, should haunt him until he dies, former U.S. President Joe Biden wrote in a new book, referring to the storming of the Capitol.
Biden’s memoir of his time in the White House will hit bookstores in the U.S. on Nov. 17. On Monday, The Atlantic magazine published an excerpt from the book.
In it, the former president appeals to Americans to defend democracy. “What Trump did on Jan. 6, 2021, should never be forgotten. It should weigh on him for the rest of his life,” said the politician, who was president of the U.S. from 2021 to 2025.
Biden criticized Trump’s pardons of about 1,600 participants in the riot in Washington. He also accused Trump of having “led an insurrection.” “His goal was to hold on to power even though Americans had voted to remove him from office,” the former president stressed.
The Democrat also wrote that Trump told him they could have been good friends if not for politics.
The former president said on the social media platform X that, because of cancer, he will not take part in many events promoting his book, “Promise Me, America.”
“My doctors are pleased with how I’m responding to treatment. The prayers, kind words and well wishes I have received from so many of you mean more to me, Jill and our whole family than you can imagine,” wrote Biden, who is 83.
He acknowledged that “some days are better, some worse.” “The illness hasn’t stopped me, but at times it slows my pace. Unfortunately, that means I won’t be able to take part in as many events and conversations about my book as I originally planned,” Biden added.
In May 2025, less than four months after leaving the White House, Biden disclosed that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Natalia Dziurdzińska, Washington (PAP)