“President Biden will lay out the significance of what happened at the Capitol, the singular responsibility President Trump has for the chaos and carnage that we saw,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. She added that Biden “has been clear-eyed about the threat the former president represents to our democracy and how the former president constantly works to undermine basic American values and rule of law.”

Biden has criticized Trump by name on only a few occasions during his first year in office, and aides have made it clear he is reluctant to stir partisan fires or elevate Trump’s falsehoods. But some Democrats argue that Biden urgently needs to take on Trump more directly as the leader of a movement that is challenging America’s democracy.

Biden and Vice President Harris plan to deliver remarks at 9 a.m. Thursday in Statuary Hall, a marble-filled chamber in the Capitol that was breached by the insurrectionists. That time slot, well before the rest of the commemorative events are scheduled, is intended to set the tone for the day, according to two top Biden aides who previewed aspects of the speech.