Ahead of a possible rematch with Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden delivered a significant talk on Thursday in which he gave stern new warnings about the existential threats to US democracy.
Biden remarked, “There’s something dangerous happening in America now,” during his speech in Arizona, where he was also paying tribute to his buddy, the late Republican Sen. John McCain. “The Make America Great Again” crowd “does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy.”
The current Republican Party, he added, is “driven and intimidated by MAGA Republican extremists.” MAGA is an acronym for “Make America Great Again,” the political movement Trump has championed. If they were to carry out their extreme agenda, it would have far-reaching consequences for the institutions of American democracy.
Since being criminally indicted for his attempts to alter the 2020 election results, former President Trump has been the target of Biden’s most strong attempt to call out antidemocratic behaviour. It was a preview of Biden’s reelection speech, which will focus on Trump’s words and deeds as dangers to democracy. Rather than the Constitution or basic morality, Biden claimed his predecessor was motivated by “vengeance and vindictiveness.”
Biden largely refrained from commenting on the former president as indictments and arrests of him piled up during the summer for fear of appearing to interfere in Justice Department business. A mocking remark regarding Trump’s mugshot in the Fulton County, Georgia case was his most substantial comment on his many legal difficulties.
With Trump’s overwhelming lead in the Republican primary unwavering and Biden’s own popularity stuck in the doldrums, the president is ramping up his attacks on his most likely adversary in 2024, painting him as a threat to democracy. The address on Thursday was further evidence that it is futile to try to contain Trump.
Biden, referring to his most likely Republican competitor by name, stated, “Trump says the Constitution gave him the right to do whatever he wants as president.” That’s something I’ve never heard a president joke about.
He made reference to Trump’s recent comment that Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley could be executed and claimed that the Republican Party’s silence on the matter was “deafening.”
To energise voters and donors who have otherwise seemed lukewarm about a rematch between the two men, officials say Biden will make preventing the erosion of democratic institutions and values a central theme of his reelection campaign.
Democracies can survive even the point of a gun, and this is something we should all keep in mind. People can let them die by their silence or by not speaking up, Biden remarked.
The place and time of Biden’s speech on Thursday had been discussed by his top advisors for weeks. Biden has tried to use the historic sites of Independence Hall and Gettysburg to send a message about the decline of democracy in the United States.
Biden’s advisors considered other historical sites on the East Coast, but ultimately settled on Tempe, Arizona, in part to pay tribute to the late Republican Sen. John McCain, whom Biden fondly referred to as “brother.” In a gesture of friendship, Biden has committed money for the construction of the McCain Library.
Voters in Arizona rejected candidates who challenged the results of the 2020 election, making the state a focal point for Trump’s efforts to reverse those results. That initiative played a major role in the president’s speech.
I support democratic elections and the orderly transition of power. Vice President Joe Biden once declared, “There is no place in America for political violence.
The day after the second Republican primary debate was chosen by Biden’s advisors so that he could join the coverage of the race that has been dominated by the GOP thus far. In an effort to chip away at Joe Biden’s support among union members, Donald Trump gave a speech in Michigan instead of attending the debate.
The timing of the speech was particularly awkward for Biden politically, given the ongoing scrutiny of his age, the widespread criticism of his performance on the job, and the indictment of his son, Hunter. On Thursday, House Republicans held the first hearing of their impeachment investigation into Vice President Joe Biden.
Many prominent Democrats feel that the stakes will become clearer and the current president’s standing will increase once voters begin to see the 2024 election as a contest between Biden and Trump.
There was a point in Biden’s speech when climate activists stopped him as he was asking the audience to “put partisanship aside, put country first.” A demonstrator rose up and urged Biden to do more to curb the use of fossil fuels.
Before continuing his speech, Vice President Biden interrupted to say, “I tell you what, if you shush up, I’ll met with you immediately after this.”
We simply proved that democracy is difficult, he joked.
Senior Biden advisers notified top Biden donors about the plans for Thursday’s address during a fundraising retreat in Chicago earlier this month. Many of these donors have pushed for more robust attacks on Trump at this early stage of the campaign. Last week, Biden started secretly previewing his upcoming speech to fundraisers.
During rehearsals for his Thursday speech, Vice President Biden tested several new cautions about the possible return of his predecessor to the White House, and they made their public premiere in those remarks.
Don’t have any doubts: Trump and the MAGA Republicans want to destroy American democracy. And our democracy has my undying support and vigilance. At a Broadway play last week, he explained, “That’s why I running.
Two days later, he stepped up his threats to a group of solicitors and declared that he was certain to beat Trump a second time.
Now I’m back on the track. Because, well, you know what I mean. He predicted that it would most likely be the same guy and that he would be able to win again.
Biden’s supporters feel that, over three years after the 2020 election, the subject of defending democracy still resonates strongly with Americans. The attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, was shown at the beginning of the video declaring his reelection.
Speaking in front of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall before the 2022 midterm elections, Biden sounded a thundering warning about “MAGA forces” who “tried everything last time to nullify the votes of 81 million people.” Before giving the speech, Biden gathered his communications team and a group of academics and historians to discuss the precarious status of the nation and compile ideas. Among those in attendance was Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham, who has collaborated with Biden on several of his most prominent speeches.
According to insiders, the White House keeps in touch with a few of those historians to keep getting new ideas.
The Democrats are declaring victory. The results of the 2022 midterm elections, and the fact that a so-called red wave never materialised as many had predicted, have been heralded by the government and national Democrats as proof the president’s emphasis on issues like safeguarding democracy struck a chord.
The White House has touted President Trump’s speech on democracy on Thursday as his fourth big address on the subject. Vice President Biden addressed the topic last year on the anniversary of the January 6 revolt and again in the days leading up to the midterm elections.
Biden’s intention in include McCain’s recognition in his speech on Thursday was to harken back to a more bipartisan time in Washington. With a government shutdown looking increasingly likely by the end of the week due to the ongoing fight over funding for the government, the parallel seems all the more apt.
His speech was attended by Cindy McCain, McCain family members, and Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a former Democrat who switched to the independent party last year, has suggested that Vice President Biden utilise his time in Arizona to assess the situation on the southern border.
Time for Vice President Biden to visit the border and for the federal government to perform its job in securing the border and protecting Arizona has long since passed. In a statement, she urged him to see for himself how the border communities are impacted by the government’s inaction on the situation while he is in Arizona.
For several reasons, including the fact that Beau Biden’s father also died from cancer, the death of John McCain hit Biden very close to home. Biden expressed his sadness at the loss of his former Senate colleague after laying a wreath at the site where McCain’s plane was shot down in Hanoi earlier this month.
“He was a good friend,” Biden remarked.
In the summer of 2018, Biden delivered a eulogy for McCain in which he said that his friend “lived by a different code – an ancient, antiquated code where honour, courage, integrity, duty were alive.”
