Speaker Johnson Issues Jan. 6 Invitation to Biden to Deliver State of the Union Address

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Dec. 12, 2023. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

On the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) issued an official invitation to President Joe Biden to address a Joint Session of Congress and deliver the customary presidential report on the state of the union.

“In this moment of great challenge for our country, it is my solemn duty to extend this invitation for you to address a Joint Session of Congress on Thursday, March 7, 2024, so that you may fulfill your obligation under the U.S. Constitution to report on the state of our union,” Mr. Johnson wrote in a letter to President Biden, which was dated Jan. 6.

Mr. Johnson posted the letter on X, where numerous commenters made reference to the significance of the Jan. 6 date, with some calling for the speaker to also release the 4,000 hours of Jan. 6 footage that he said would be withheld for security reasons.

Other commenters took the opportunity to call attention to the treatment of Jan. 6 prisoners, dozens of whom are still languishing in jail awaiting trial three years after the Capitol breach.

Maria Rodriguez, a Florida-based criminal defense and civil litigation attorney who has represented several Jan. 6 defendants, told The Epoch Times in an earlier interview that what is happening to Jan. 6 prisoners is “a travesty.”

Some Biden critics objected to Mr. Johnson’s invitation, claiming that the president could inform Congress on the state of the union in a letter while objecting to the speaker’s apparent giving of “prestige” to President Biden with his invitation.

This will be the first state of the union for Mr. Johnson as speaker, who traditionally sits behind and to the left of the president when he delivers the address to Congress.

Normally, state of the union addresses offer presidents the opportunity to detail their vision for the country and policy priorities, with the fact that 2024 is an election year adding special significance to the speech.

Mr. Johnson’s invitation comes on the heels of President Biden’s first campaign speech of 2024, with a focus on attacking former President Donald Trump over the events on Jan. 6 three years ago.

Biden Celebrates Jailing of Jan. 6 Participants

On Jan. 5, President Biden traveled to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to deliver a speech to mark the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, claiming that the potential return of President Trump to the White House poses a threat to democracy.

“The choice is clear,” he said. “Donald Trump’s campaign is about him, not America, not you. Donald Trump’s campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future. He’s willing to sacrifice our democracy to put himself in power.”

“Our campaign is different. For me and Kamala, our campaign is about America. It’s about you,” he added.

President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pa., on Jan. 5, 2024. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

President Trump responded on Friday during a campaign rally in Iowa, accusing the president of having “weaponized the government” against him.

“What he’s done to this country is unthinkable,“ President Trump said. ”Biden’s record is an unbroken streak of weakness, incompetence, corruption, and failure,” he continued, while labeling President Biden’s campaign event in Pennsylvania as “pathetic” and “fear-mongering.”

During his speech, President Biden also referred to the events on Jan. 6, 2021—and those jailed as a consequence.

“Knowing how his mind works now, he had one—he had one act left—one desperate act available to him: the violence of January the 6th,” the president said.

Demonstrators breached security and entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress debated the 2020 presidential election. Brent Stirton/Getty Images

“And since that day, more than 1,200 people have been charged for their assault on the Capitol. Nearly 900 of them have been convicted or pled guilty. Collectively, to date, they have been sentenced to more than 840 years in prison,” President Biden continued, drawing applause from the audience.

“And what has Trump done? Instead of calling them ‘criminals,’ he’s called these ... insurrectionists ‘patriots,’” he said. “And he promised to pardon them if he returns to office.”

President Trump has said on numerous occasions that he thinks the Jan. 6 detainees are being subjected to mistreatment at the hands of the Justice Department under President Biden and has vowed to issue pardons.

Jan. 6 Backdrop

President Trump held a rally near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, in which he made statements encouraging his supporters to march to the Capitol, where Congress was in the process of certifying the results of the presidential election.

While President Trump called for the day’s events to be peaceful, a group of people breached the Capitol, leading to a violent confrontation with law enforcement.

The events of that day have been the subject of widespread scrutiny and debate, with President Trump’s political opponents accusing him of inciting an “insurrection.”

President Donald Trump speaks during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as President in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. Evan Vucci/AP Photo

The “insurrection” allegations underpin several legal efforts by President Trump’s opponents to block him from being listed on ballots in the 2024 presidential race on 14th Amendment grounds, seeking to portray him as the instigator of the Jan. 6 incident.

These cases basically argued that the former president took part in an “insurrection” by giving an impassioned speech on Jan. 6 before the Capitol breach occurred.

Even though President Trump said in his Jan. 6 speech that protesters should “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” his critics have seized on a portion of his remarks where he said “we fight like hell” and “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore” as a call for violence.

The former president has, on numerous occasions, denied calling for violent protests while insisting he meant his remarks about fighting like hell metaphorically.

Patricia Tolson contributed to this report.