President Joe Biden urged Republicans to stand up for democracy at home and abroad in his State of the Union address on Thursday, criticizing some in the party who are attempting to whitewash the violent Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Biden said that former President Donald Trump s lies about the 2020 election posed the gravest threat to our democracy since the Civil War but that ultimately America stood strong and democracy prevailed when Congress certified his electoral victory hours after hundreds of Trump supporters ransacked the Capitol.

My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about Jan. 6. I will not do that, Biden said, referring to supporters of Trump, the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee.

He added: Heres the simple truth: You cant love your country only when you win.

Democratic members of Congress in the chamber stood and cheered his remarks, but Republicans stayed seated and remained silent, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), seated behind Biden, who shook his head slightly as the president spoke.

Before his time as speaker, Johnson played a leading role in trying to reverse Bidens presidential victory in the courts with claims of widespread fraud that were based on no evidence. As speaker, he has offered statements of support for those who illegally entered a restricted federal building as part of the attack.

Trump and other Republicans have since glorified the events of Jan. 6, portraying violent rioters who were convicted of storming the Capitol and assaulting police officers as martyrs, calling the convicted rioters hostages. At a recent rally in South Carolina, Trump played a song recorded by Jan. 6 convicts before he spoke, and he still maintains falsely that the 2020 election was rigged.