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Biden Says Jan 6 Should Follow Trump to Grave

5 sources · updated 2026-11-09
Left 100% Center 0% Right 0%
5 left · 0 center · 0 right

What happened

On November 9, The Atlantic published an excerpt from former President Joe Biden’s forthcoming memoir, "Promise Me, America," in which Biden writes that Donald Trump’s conduct surrounding the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol "should never be forgotten" and "should follow him to his grave." Biden alleges that Trump "led an insurrection," criticizes Trump’s pardons and clemency for Jan. 6 defendants issued after Trump returned to office in 2025, and says those involved "deserved prison terms." The memoir excerpt also describes a nearly two‑hour Oval Office meeting in November 2024 between then President-elect Trump and Biden, portraying Trump as unusually flattering and focused on personalities rather than policy. Biden further uses the book to criticize Trump’s second‑term policies, including environmental rollbacks, immigration enforcement actions, and the administration’s approach to race and democratic norms, as well as a 2024 Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity. Established provenance: First reported by The Atlantic on 2026-11-09, with Biden himself as the first on‑record source of the remarks, as noted by NBC News.
Sourcing check · Mostly on the record · 5 articles

3 of 4 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report. Most articles credit The Atlantic rather than reporting it themselves.

What these terms mean and how they're counted
On the record · names a source 3 of 4
On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Joe Biden, Joseph Biden and Lauren Bis
Primary evidence · cites a document or data 2 of 4
Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: book excerpt
Credits another outlet 2 of 4
The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: The Atlantic, Associated Press
Unnamed sources 0 of 4
The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
How it developed
When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Nov 9, 13:54 UTC by NBC News, naming its source. First document in the first report, from NBC News (book excerpt).
Not counted 1
Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
ONE-SIDED THIS WEEK. No right-leaning outlet in the sources below has covered this story in the last two days; Washington Examiner reported it on 2026-11-09.
Omitted — what each side leaves out

Unpacked

The biggest gap is that right-leaning outlets have offered no coverage of Biden’s new accusation that Trump’s conduct around the Capitol attack should haunt him for life, while left-leaning coverage presents that charge with no legal counterpoint or Trump response. NBC News and ABC News both center Biden’s claim that what Trump did during the Capitol assault should follow him to his grave and that he led an insurrection and pardoned the rioters. ABC News extends this to a wider indictment of Trump’s current term and a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity that Biden calls a death knell for accountability. None of the pieces cites any court finding about whether Trump legally committed insurrection or explains how the immunity decision has shaped criminal cases related to the Capitol attack. A reader in the right-leaning information space misses the charges entirely, while a reader in the left-leaning space hears only Biden’s framing, not how it fits into the legal record or Trump’s own defense. There is also an emphasis gap inside left-leaning coverage. NBC News keeps a tight focus on the riot, the pardons, and Biden’s account of his transition meeting with Trump. ABC News uses the same memoir excerpt as a springboard to describe Trump taking a wrecking ball to traditions and institutions, rolling back climate policy, hardening immigration enforcement, and gutting international health cooperation. That framing shifts the piece from a narrow accountability story into a sweeping narrative about the character of Trump’s second term. Did any official investigation or court ever determine that Trump legally bore responsibility for insurrection, and how does the new presidential immunity ruling constrain any remaining effort to hold him to account for that day?
Bottom line

With right-leaning outlets silent, only readers of NBC News and ABC News are hearing Biden’s claim that Trump’s conduct during the Capitol attack should “follow him to his grave,” and even there they get almost no context about what courts or investigations have actually concluded about Trump’s legal responsibility.

The receipts — 4 facts one side's coverage lacks
  • Biden writes in his memoir that what Trump did during the Capitol attack should follow him to his grave and that Trump led an insurrection. official statementin nbcnews, abcnews, atlantic · absent from right-leaning coverage
  • Biden criticizes Trump for granting sweeping pardons and clemency to defendants from the Capitol riot, arguing the criminals deserved prison terms instead. contextin nbcnews, abcnews · absent from right-leaning coverage
  • Biden faults Trump for not holding a formal ceremony to honor the officers who defended the Capitol during the attack. contextin abcnews · absent from right-leaning coverage
  • Biden attacks the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling, saying there was no precedent or constitutional basis for it and calling it a death knell for accountability. legal rulingin abcnews · absent from right-leaning coverage
The Left View
Left‑leaning outlets emphasize that the memoir contains some of Biden’s sharpest criticism of Trump to date, centering on his assertion that Trump "led an insurrection" on January 6 and that the events and Trump’s role "should follow him to his grave." NBC News and ABC News highlight Biden’s condemnation of Trump’s sweeping pardons and clemency for Jan. 6 defendants on his first day back in office, his claim that those who attacked police "deserved prison terms," and his argument that Trump and his allies cannot credibly portray themselves as pro‑law enforcement while downplaying the violence against officers. The Atlantic and ABC News focus on Biden’s account of his November 2024 Oval Office meeting with President‑elect Trump, describing Trump as "fawning," praising Biden’s job‑creation record, and expressing relief at not having to run against him; Biden portrays Trump as more interested in gossip‑like talk about foreign leaders than in substantive briefings. ABC News’ longer treatment foregrounds Biden’s broader indictment of Trump’s second term, including descriptions of Trump re‑withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, expanding oil and gas drilling, cutting support for electric vehicles and renewable energy, pursuing hard‑line immigration enforcement targeting Black and brown communities, and promoting conspiracy theories; it also notes Biden’s criticism of the Supreme Court’s 2024 presidential‑immunity ruling as lacking precedent and undermining accountability. The Hill briefly relays Biden’s core line that the Jan. 6 attack should follow Trump "to his grave" and notes the memoir’s title and publication date. As of now, no right‑leaning outlet in our survey has reported on or analyzed these memoir excerpts.
Our Take (balanced)
This story is substantively grounded in a concrete source: a forthcoming memoir by a named former president, with specific excerpts published by The Atlantic and echoed by multiple mainstream outlets. It is firmly established that Biden wrote and authorized these statements, that they have been published as book excerpts, and that they describe his views of Trump’s role in January 6, his pardons of Jan. 6 defendants, their private 2024 Oval Office meeting, and the broad contours of Trump’s second‑term policies and the Supreme Court’s immunity decision. What remains in the realm of allegation or interpretation are Biden’s characterizations — that Trump "led an insurrection," that his governance was "crueler" and racially divisive, and his subjective descriptions of Trump’s tone, motives, and focus in private conversations; these are one participant’s account and evaluative judgments, not independently verified reconstructions. Many policy references (e.g., re‑exit from the Paris accords, expanded fossil‑fuel drilling, tougher immigration enforcement, withdrawal from WHO, the existence and content of the 2024 immunity ruling) are factual matters that can be and largely have been documented separately, but the causal and moral conclusions Biden draws from them are inherently contested. As of this writing, no right‑leaning outlet has covered these excerpts, which is a factual coverage gap readers should be aware of. Key things to watch next are: publication of the full book on November 17 (to see the remarks in fuller context), any official responses or rebuttals from Trump or his administration, potential fact‑checks of specific anecdotes or claims (especially about the 2024 Oval Office meeting and the scope of Jan. 6 pardons), and whether courts, Congress, or law‑enforcement bodies treat Biden’s characterizations as relevant to ongoing debates over January 6 and presidential accountability.

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