Biden calls Trump a 'real threat to democracy'

President Biden launched a blistering attack on Trump, calling the president-elect's actions a “real threat to democracy.”

Ahead of the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, Biden was asked whether he still believes Trump is a threat to democracy.

“We have to get back to establishing basic democratic norms,” ​​Biden told reporters in the East Room of the White House on Sunday. “I think his actions were a real threat to democracy. I hope we can move beyond that.”

Biden made comments to reporters after signing the Social Security Fairness Act.

Biden administration slams 'disgusting' after judge upholds plea deal for alleged 9/11 masterminds

“The bill I'm signing today is about a simple proposition: Americans who have worked hard all their lives to earn an honest living should be able to retire with financial security and dignity.” . “This is the entire purpose of Social Security, which was created by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt nearly 90 years ago.”

The president said the signing was “the culmination of four years of struggle.”

“As the first president in more than 20 years to expand Social Security benefits, this victory is the culmination of a four-year fight to provide protection for workers who dedicate their lives to their communities, and I am proud to have played a small role.” “I'm proud to join this fight,” Biden said.

President Biden addresses the media after signing the Social Security Fairness Act at the White House on January 5, 2025. (Chris Kleponis/AFP via Getty Images)

The bill would repeal a pair of provisions, the “windfall elimination provision'' created in 1983 and the “government pension offset provision'' devised in 1977, which would eliminate the possibility of other sources of funding, such as funding from local governments or the national government. It would reduce Social Security benefits for some U.S. retirees who receive retirement benefits from the Treasury. pension.

Mick McHale, president of the National Association of Police Organizations, told Fox News that the 327 members of the House and 76 senators represent about 3 million retired firefighters, police officers, teachers and other pensioners. He said he voted to support other public officials. digital.

“For more than 40 years, men and women, especially in the public safety field, have been punished … because of the pension systems in which they work,” McHale said.

Police and ambulance respond to a reported mass casualty incident on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on January 1, 2025. (WVUE)

Biden also spoke about plans to travel to New Orleans on Monday to mourn with the families of the victims and meet with officials in the wake of the New Year's Day terrorist attack.

Did Biden do enough against terrorism?

“I've been there too. There's nothing I can say to someone who has experienced such a tragic death. My message will be personal to them,” he said. “If you just hold on to each other, one day you'll remember your loved one and you'll smile before you cry.”

Memorial in memory of the victims of the New Orleans New Year's Attack on January 1, 2025. (Audrey Conklin/Fox News Digital)

The visit comes as police say 42-year-old Shamsuddin Jabbar plowed into pedestrians with his rented pickup truck on busy Bourbon Street early Wednesday morning, killing 14 people and injuring dozens. It was carried out in response to the Police shot and killed Mr. Jabbar after he fired at them.

“We have established beyond a reasonable doubt that New Orleans was one man acting alone. For all the talk of conspiracy with other people, there is zero evidence of that,” Biden said. .

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I think he had serious mental health issues of his own, and I think he acted alone, just like what happened in Las Vegas,” Biden said. “But there's no evidence at all of the idea that they were foreigners who came across the border. But they worked here and stayed here.”

Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano Jr. contributed to this report.