Trump barely mentions Jan. 6 on third anniversary of assault on the Capitol

Former President Donald Trump barely mentioned the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol as he rallied supporters in Iowa on Saturday, but his speech was centered on countering President Joe Biden’s argument that the riot and Trump’s broader effort to overturn the 2020 election represent a grave threat to the republic.

“This guy goes around and says I’m a threat to democracy,” Trump said. “He’s a threat to democracy. ... You know, you can be grossly incompetent and be a threat to democracy.”

Trump faces federal election interference charges stemming from his well-documented campaign to stay in office after he lost. His efforts culminated in his loyalists assaulting police officers, storming the Capitol and hunting for lawmakers in a failed attempt to prevent electoral votes from being tallied on Jan. 6, 2021.

He made just one reference to the date during Saturday’s first event, a 113-minute speech — to express puzzlement that he was impeached for his role. “Nobody thought J6 was even a possibility,” he said, using a shorthand for the date.

After a more than three-hour delay, in part, due to inclement weather, Trump held a second rally in Clinton, Iowa. He hit on many of the issues that he talked about during the first rally, and once again only mentioned the Jan. 6 Capitol riots once during the 62-minute speech. The late-night event touched on many of the same unfounded claims, like the 2020 election was stolen, that have found a place in most of Trump’s recent stump speeches.

But even as he tiptoed around the edges of the anniversary, it was clear that Trump sees a political imperative in fighting on the turf Biden has chosen — which one of them represents a threat to democracy — if for no other reason than to blunt the