Donald Trump cancels January 6 press conference on insurrection anniversary

President Biden and Vice President Harris will deliver words regarding deadly assault on US Capitol

Former US president Donald Trump at a rally near the White House in Washington on January 6, 2021. AFP

Former US president Donald Trump on Tuesday announced he has cancelled a planned press conference that would have taken place on the anniversary of the deadly January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

“In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the January 6 [House Select] Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans and the fake news media, I am cancelling the January 6 press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday,” he said in a statement.

A year ago, Mr Trump, who was president at the time, spoke at a rally outside the White House and incited a crowd of his supporters to march to the US Capitol, where Congress was voting to certify the 2020 election results that removed him from the Oval Office.

The attack led to the deaths of at least five people, including a Capitol Police officer.

Mr Trump's cancellation of the press conference marks a turn in the lead-up to the anniversary. Some had feared his speech would feature his repeated claims that the election was stolen from him.

Most recently, he claimed “the real insurrection happened on November 3, the presidential election, not on January 6 — which was a day of protesting the fake election results".

Some expected Mr Trump to use his January 6 speech at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida, to announce his re-election bid for 2024.

Instead, Mr Trump will hold a rally in Arizona on Saturday, January 15, when he may announce his future political plans. “It will be a big crowd!” he said.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver remarks on the deadly assault on Thursday.

“On Thursday, the president is going to speak to the truth of what happened, not the lies that some have spread since and the peril it has posed to the rule of law and our system of democratic governance,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.

“Our democracy withstood an attack from a mob and the will of the more than 150 million people who voted in the presidential election was ultimately registered by Congress,” she continued.

“And he will also speak to the work we still need to do to secure and strengthen our democracy and our institutions, to reject the hatred and lies we saw on January 6 and to unite our country.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will also lead a moment of silence and prayer at the Capitol.