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Biden asks Americans to recommit to democracy in Normandy cliff speech
Biden reiterated the sentiments of his Republican predecessor, Ronald Reagan, who commemorated the 40th anniversary of D-Day at Pointe du Hoc, that democracy was "worth dying for."
US President Joe Biden is seen upon arrival at Paris Orly airport near Paris, on June 5, 2024, as he travels to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day / . JULIEN DE ROSA/Pool via REUTERS
POINTE DU HOC, France (Reuters)- Near the cliff that U.S. Army Rangers scaled 80 years ago on D-Day, President Joe Biden on June 7 compared the threats posed by Nazi Germany to those facing the world today by dictators and authoritarianism.
Biden's speech in Normandy, his second in as many days, aimed at strengthening support for Ukraine, but it is also expected to be a rebuke of the isolationist inclinations of Donald Trump, Biden's rival in the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Biden urged Americans to remember the Rangers whose dramatic heroism on D-Day helped make the invasion a success.
"As we gather here today, it’s not just to honor those who showed such remarkable bravery that day, June 6, 1944," Biden said. "It’s to listen to the echo of their voices. To hear them. ... They’re not asking us to scale these cliffs. They’re asking us to stay true to what America stands for."
On June 6, 1944, the elite Ranger troops scaled the 100-foot (30-meter) cliffs overlooking Omaha Beach under withering fire and seized German artillery pieces that could have fired on American troops coming ashore at Omaha and nearby Utah Beach.
By setting his speech at Pointe du Hoc, Biden echoed Republican predecessor Ronald Reagan, who marked D-Day's anniversary there 40 years ago. Reagan said democracy was "worth dying for" and emphasized an American desire for peace in what turned out to be the waning years of the Cold War.
Biden's goal was to draw a "through line" from World War Two, connecting the Cold War, the establishment of the NATO military alliance and Russia's current war with Ukraine, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
Biden is in the middle of a five-day trip to France, a rare excursion abroad during an election year in which he faces a tight race against former President Trump, a Republican who has threatened to use a second four-year term to punish political rivals, deport immigrants and upend global alliances.
Trump has criticized the cost of supporting Ukraine after Russia's invasion, proposed higher tariffs as part of an "America First" policy and questioned America's decades-long commitment to NATO, saying European members are not paying their fair share.
On June 6, Biden made an impassioned call for the defense of freedom and urged Western powers to stand by Ukraine in its fight with Russia.
The D-Day anniversary on June 6 and surrounding events are part of Biden's presidential duties, not a campaign event. But they gave him a chance to contrast himself with Trump.
Biden, at 81 the oldest to serve in the office, has sought to rebut concerns about his age by focusing on the potential impact Trump, 77, could have during a second term. The Democratic incumbent has characterized Trump, whose supporters raided the U.S. Capitol after the Republican declined to accept his 2020 election loss, as a threat to U.S. democracy.
Meanwhile, hard-right parties are gaining ground in Europe, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said on June 5 that he could deploy conventional missiles within striking distance of the United States and its allies if they allowed Ukraine to strike deeper into Russia with long-range Western weapons.
"This will hit the core messages that Biden is wanting to highlight during his re-election campaign but also has real resonance still in Europe as well," said Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies.
Biden met with World War Two veterans in Normandy on June 6 and plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on June 7.
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