'A battle for the soul of America': Biden says U.S. democracy under threat on Capitol riot anniversary

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday accused his predecessor, Donald Trump, of posing a continuing threat to American democracy in a speech on the anniversary of the deadly U.S. Capitol attack.

Speaking at the white-domed building that was the scene of the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, Biden warned that Trump's false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud could unravel the rule of law and undermine future elections.

"We must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie. Here's the truth: A former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He's done so because he values power over principle," Biden said.

Autocratic countries such as China and Russia are invested in seeing democracy collapse in the U.S., he said.

"We are in a battle for the soul of America," Biden said.

WATCH | 'This was an armed insurrection': Biden:

The speech was a departure for Biden, who has spent most of his first year in office focused on pursuing his own agenda rather than looking backward.

"Are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm? Are we going to be a nation where we allow partisan election officials to overturn the legally expressed will of the people?" he said.

"Are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth but in the shadow of lies? We cannot allow ourselves to be that kind of nation. The way forward is to recognize the truth and to live by it."

Four people who attended the riot died: one, a female protester who was part of the mob that forced its way into the Capitol, was shot by a Capitol Police officer; two people died of heart failure; and one person died of an amphetamine overdose. A Capitol Police officer who confronted the rioters died a day later after suffering two strokes.

Several events marking the anniversary are planned for Washington, D.C., on Thursday. They will be widely attended by Democrats, in person and virtually, but almost every Republican on Capitol Hill will be absent.

Trump cancelled a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida that had been scheduled for Thursday evening, blaming what he called the "bias and dishonesty" of the House of Representatives probe of the attacks and the news media, a favourite target.

"Biden ... used my name today to try to further divide America," Trump said in a statement released right after the president's speech.

LISTEN | Longtime CBC Washington correspondent Paul Hunter looks back on the events of Jan. 6, 2020: