Former DC officer attacked on Jan. 6 says Biden needs to fight harder for democracy

A former Washington, D.C., police officer who was attacked in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot said Friday that President Biden needs to fight harder for democracy.

“I think it’s an all-hands-on-deck effort to make sure that Donald Trump doesn’t assume the presidency in 2024,” Michael Fanone said on MSNBC. “We all know what that’s gonna look like, he’s told us as much.”

“But I also — yeah, I’ve gotta point out some of the disappointments that I’ve had over the past three years,” Fanone continued. “And that’s, where’s the outrage on behalf of the current administration? You know, I give credit, Joe Biden has given some fiery speeches with regards to MAGA and its effort to overturn a free and fair election. But that’s something that this country needs to hear every single day, specifically younger people, young voters.”

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Earlier last year, a California man named Daniel Rodriguez pleaded guilty to assaulting Fanone during the Jan. 6 riots. He tased the ex-D.C. police officer twice in the back of his neck. Fanone experienced a minor heart attack and brain injury during the attack.

In his first campaign speech of the year Friday, the president highlighted the Jan. 6 attack in an attempt to cement a point about Trump and other Republicans espousing a kind of extremism that was seen by the world on that day.

“Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot,” Biden said in the speech, given near Valley Forge, Pa.

Biden also called the former president a “loser” at one point in the speech.

“Donald Trump’s campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future. He’s willing to sacrifice democracy to put himself in power,” Biden said.