Joe Biden will commemorate the events of January 6 on the second anniversary of that day on Friday, because, of course, he will. Last year he delivered a speech on the anniversary. This year a ceremony is planned to take place in the White House’s East Room.

It has been only recently that Joe Biden has begun to say the former president’s name in public speeches. He refused to do so when he first came into office, referring only to the previous president or the previous administration. As the 2024 presidential primary race comes into play, look for Biden to get more aggressive about Trump’s time in office. Biden is expected to declare his candidacy for re-election soon, having gone through the pretext of allegedly consulting with his family during their family Christmas vacation in the Caribbean. I will not be surprised if Biden name-checks Trump in his speech this year.

A White House official (a.k.a. an anonymous leaker) confirmed that Biden will deliver remarks and honor twelve people for their contributions in the events surrounding the January protest and riot. Look for the word ‘insurrection’ to be the word of the day.

“These 12 heroes demonstrated courage and selflessness during a moment of peril for our nation. They include Capitol Police, Metropolitan Police, election workers, and officials at the state and local level,” the official said.

The Capitol Police and Metro Police that failed epically to control the actions on Capitol Hill that day? The law enforcement who now admit how woefully unprepared they were for that day, even though there had been weeks of red flag warnings from intelligence sources? Interesting choice. I can understand the election workers and the state and local officials, though. He’s going to be running for re-election and the states he is concentrating on will play an important role in the 2024 presidential election. It is important to remember that everything Joe Biden does is in connection to his own political goals.

Biden will honor Metropolitan Police Department officers Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges. Here is Fanone on Thursday:

“For me, being courageous means speaking out so my four daughters can live in a country without fear of political violence from the MAGA movement that is putting their futures at risk," former police officer Michael Fanone says ahead of Jan. 6 anniversary. https://t.co/im5GzdBCKx pic.twitter.com/o31k715nIa

— ABC News (@ABC) January 5, 2023

Capitol Police officers to be honored include Harry Dunn, Caroline Edwards, Aquillino Gonell and Eugene Goodman. Officer Brian Sicknick will be honored posthumously. Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss will be honored. They testified before a House panel last year about harassment they endured.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson will be honored. She claims she faced harassment after her certification of the 2020 presidential election results. Al Schmidt, a city commissioner on the Philadelphia County Board of Elections will also be honored.

And, Rusty Bowers, former Arizona House Speaker who didn’t succumb to pressure from Trump and his allies, will be honored. He testified before the January 6 committee about harassment he faced.

Hmm. Presidential awards are going to people in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona from Biden as he prepares to declare himself a candidate for re-election. Those are some important states in presidential elections in recent cycles. There are no coincidences in politics.

Biden wants to keep events like January 6 front and center. He intends to hammer Republicans about that day, painting with broad strokes all Republican-leaning voters with one brush. The January 6 committee essentially wasted a lot of time and taxpayer money with little to show for it. There were some bold headlines from former Trump staffers and the committee hauling in some of Trump’s inner circle to testify, but not much else. Most voters didn’t pay attention after the first televised hearing. It quickly became clear that it was all about Democrats trying to ding up Trump enough so that he didn’t run for re-election. That didn’t work. He’s already declared his candidacy.

Morning Consult today reports on how the events of January 6 may resonate in the 2024 presidential election.

55% of voters said the events of Jan. 6 will have at least a minor impact on their 2024 vote, similar to the share who said the same ahead of the midterms.

59% see Trump as culpable for Jan. 6, matching their beliefs from about a year ago.

55% of voters believe Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election were criminal.

Those numbers sound fairly reasonable. However, the numbers don’t matter much at this point in the cycle. We’re almost two years out from election day. Lots and lots of things will happen along the way, including primary elections. Trump’s influence is waning. Yes, his core base supporters are still with him. But Trump needs lots more voters than his core base supporters. Most importantly, he needs independent voters. They are no longer with him. Voters are ready for change, though. Even the majority of Democrats don’t want Sleepy Joe to run for re-election. It is time for someone not in his 70s or 80s to be the nominees of both parties.