President Joe Biden is decrying what he calls an “unrelenting effort” to downplay a mob of Donald Trump supporters overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to block certification of the 2020 election — seeking to contrast that day's chaos with what he promises will be an orderly transition returning Trump to power for a second term.
In an opinion piece published Sunday in The Washington Post, Biden recalled Jan. 6, 2021, writing that “violent insurrectionists attacked the Capitol.”
“We should be proud that our democracy withstood this assault," Biden wrote. "And we should be glad we will not see such a shameful attack again this year.”
Congress is convening in Washington on Monday to certify Trump's victory in November's election — in a session presided over by the candidate he defeated, Vice President Kamala Harris. No violence, or even procedural objections, are expected this time, marking a return to a U.S. tradition that launches the peaceful transfer of presidential power.
That's despite Trump continuing to deny that he lost to Biden in 2020, already musing publicly about staying beyond the Constitution’s two-term White House limit, and promising to pardon some of the more than 1,250 people who have pleaded guilty or were convicted of crimes for the Capitol siege.
In his opinion piece, Biden says of the certification process, "After what we all witnessed on Jan. 6, 2021, we know we can never again take it for granted." He doesn't mention Trump directly but says “an unrelenting effort has been underway to rewrite — even erase — the history of that day."
“To tell us we didn’t see what we all saw with our own eyes,” Biden wrote. “We cannot allow the truth to be lost.”
He vowed that the “election will be certified peacefully. I have invited the incoming president to the White House on the morning of Jan. 20, and I will be present for his inauguration that afternoon,” even though Trump skipped Biden's inauguration in 2021.
“But on this day, we cannot forget,” Biden added. “We should commit to remembering Jan. 6, 2021, every year. To remember it as a day when our democracy was put to the test and prevailed. To remember that democracy — even in America — is never guaranteed.”
Trump, on Monday, didn't mention Biden's opinion piece but disputed the Democratic president's assertion that he's worked to ensure an orderly transfer of power from one administration to the next.
“They talk about a transition. They’re always saying, ’Oh, no, we want to have a smooth transition from party to party of government,'" Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. "Well, they’re making it really difficult. They’re throwing everything they can in the way.”
Those comments came as Trump bristled at an 11th hour order issued Monday by Biden banning offshore oil and gas drilling in most federal waters, which the Republican president-elect vowed to roll back once he's in office.
Biden's published opinion piece on Sunday evening followed him telling reporters at the White House earlier in the day that the history of what occurred on Jan. 6, 2021, “should not be rewritten” and adding, “I don’t think it should be forgotten."
Biden spent much of 2024 warning voters that Trump was a serious threat to the nation’s democracy. And this past week, the president awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal to Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson, leaders of the congressional investigation into the Capitol riot.
As he did with his opinion piece, Biden used his Sunday comments to reports to insist that he's overseeing a peaceful handover of power — and contrast that with Trump's actions in early 2021.
”I’ve reached out to make sure the smooth transition," Biden said of Trump's incoming administration. "We’ve got to get back to basic, normal transfer of power."
Asked if he still viewed his soon-to-be successor in the White House as a threat to democracy, Biden responded, "I think what he did was a genuine threat to democracy. I’m hopeful we’re beyond that now.”
President Joe Biden speaks with reporters after signing the Social Security Fairness Act in the East Room of the White House, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Joe Biden speaks at a reception for new Democratic members of Congress in the State Dining Room of the White House, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Ski patrollers miffed by wages they say are too low for high living costs have put a wrench in operations at the biggest U.S. ski resort with a rare strike that began over the busy holidays and carried on into the new year's fresh powder.
The resulting thin staffing at Utah's Park City Mountain Resort, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Salt Lake City in the Wasatch Range, has left many runs closed and caused long lines for ski lifts.
Yet some skiers who paid good money for passes are sympathetic. “Pay your employees!” they chant from lift lines in videos posted on social media.
Unionization is rare but increasing at U.S. ski resorts, including the one in Park City that is owned by Vail Resorts, which with 42 properties on three continents calls itself the world’s largest mountain resort operator.
As talks stalled, 200 patrollers went on strike on Dec. 27, alleging unfair bargaining by the company.
Here's the latest on the strike:
They maintain safety at ski resorts by monitoring terrain, responding to accidents, hauling hurt skiers downhill and reducing avalanche risk, sometimes by releasing avalanches with explosives when nobody's in range.
It's a seasonal job. After the snow melts away, so do they.
Many in the Rocky Mountain region work as fly-fishing, mountain biking and whitewater rafting guides in the warmer months. Often they're young people starting in the workforce.
Others spend decades honing skills in a physically demanding job.
The specialized work requires training and dedication — and ought to be compensated without too much stress over living costs in pricey mountain towns such as Park City, the ski patroller union argues.
The strike comes as actions by labor unions soared over the past couple of years. Unions secured meaningful employer concessions in recent months following strikes by Boeing factory workers, dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports, video game performers, and hotel and casino workers on the Las Vegas Strip.
The 45,000 dockworkers' ongoing threats to resume their strike over automation would shut down ports and could damage the economy as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
Pointing to steep inflation since 2022, the Park City Professional Ski Patrollers Association has been negotiating since March, seeking an increase from $21 to $23 an hour. The union says $27 is considered a livable wage in pricey Park City, which is also home to Deer Valley Resort.
They also seek higher pay for the longest-serving ski patrollers. The current scale tops out after five years on the job.
“We just want to make sure these tenured patrollers are compensated for their skills and encouraged to stick around,” Park City ski patroller and association spokesperson Alana McClements said.
The ski patrollers got a big raise a couple years ago.
Vail Resorts argues it was generous with its 50% base-pay increase from $13 to $21 an hour in 2022. It's now offering a 4% pay increase for most patrollers and $1,600 each year for their equipment.
"We deeply regret that this is having any level of impact on the guest experience and are grateful to our thousands of employees who are working hard every day to enable the experience at Park City Mountain and open the terrain,” Bill Rock, president of Vail Resorts mountain division, said in a statement.
Snow has been falling thick and fast in Park City, with more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) in the past week. But much of Park City Mountain Resort is closed because of the strike.
As of Monday, only 25 of 41 lifts and 103 of 350 trails were open, according to the resort's website.
Vail Resorts apparently has brought in nonunion workers from other resorts to help keep the one in Park City running, McClements said.
Union ski patrollers at other U.S. Vail Resorts properties, including Breckenridge, Crested Butte and Keystone in Colorado, have expressed solidarity with the Park City Mountain Resort workers and complained about pressure put on workers from elsewhere to go there.
Sympathizers include other workers at the resort, including ski instructors and snow groomers, who hope their own wages will increase if the patrollers are successful, ski instructor Grace Mauzy said.
“Ski patrol requires even more skilled learning than to be instructor, but to be instructor you also have to have skills training,” Mauzy said. "They’re both highly underpaid.”
There's a wider sense, McClements said, that if Vail Resorts gives in to the union's demands, ski workers elsewhere will demand increases.
“There is a history of mountain workers being paid unlivable wages because people view parts of the job as fun," McClements said. "We definitely see this as a broader fight.”
Mediation between the association and company happened Monday and was scheduled again Tuesday, McClements said.
And this weekend, the forecast calls for more snow.
Associated Press writer Hannah Schoenbaum contributed reporting from New York City.
Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah Jan 7. 2025, (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025, (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Park City Ski Patrol on strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Park City Ski Patrol on strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Park City Ski Patrol on strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Park City Ski Patrol employee Erika Roetman holds a sign while on strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
