President Joe Biden told the story of Army Rangers scaling a 100-foot cliff under Nazi gunfire 80 years ago and urged Americans to follow their example in fighting ideologies of hate at home and abroad in a important speech prepared on Friday.
Standing on the beaches where Allied forces invaded occupied France on D-Day, he invoked its spirit to lay out his own vision of America’s place in the world.
“Does anyone doubt that they would want the United States to confront Putin’s aggression here in Europe today?” he said.
‘They stormed the beaches with our allies. Does anyone think the Rangers want America to go it alone today?
Biden is in France to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day and will be honored in Paris on Saturday during an official visit.
President Joe Biden used the backdrop of Pointe du Hoc, among the Normandy landing beaches, to deliver a speech about democracy and American ideals.
But Friday’s speech was politically charged, coming in an election year and as Biden seeks to win over Reagan Republicans concerned about Donald Trump’s attitude toward national security.
“When we talk about democracy, American democracy, we often talk about big ideas like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” he said. “What we don’t talk about enough is how difficult it is.”
To underscore this point, the presidential lectern was installed atop a concrete German bunker.
The backdrop could not have been more dramatic, with the blue of the English Channel behind it, the rocky landing beaches on either side and the ground around dotted with 50ft craters left by Allied bombing raids 80 years ago.
It couldn’t have been more symbolic either. In 1984, Ronald Reagan used the same location to deliver one of the most powerful speeches of his presidency, using the story of how a brave group of Army Rangers scaled the dangerous cliffs of Pointe du Hoc as part of the fight against tyranny.
“These are the guys from Pointe du Hoc,” he said in a speech at the height of the Cold War.
‘These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped liberate a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.
He was an aging president using past American glory to help his re-election campaign.
Biden risks making unflattering comparisons by so closely imitating one of his Republican predecessor’s most inspiring moments.
President Ronald Reagan delivers his famous “The Boys from Pointe du Hoc” speech in Normandy on June 6, 1984, the 40th anniversary of D-Day.
A group of U.S. Army Rangers demonstrate how they climbed a rope ladder up the cliff at Pointe du Hoc to surprise a Nazi gun position.
The Pointe du Hoc was one of the strongholds of the German fortifications and was taken by force in a daring vertical assault. Biden is guided by the superintendent of the Colleville-sur-Mer American Cemetery, Scott Desjardins.
Biden shakes hands with World War II veteran John Wardell, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stands next to them.
But it underscores how he believes he can position Democrats as the party of international freedom at a time when Donald Trump has said he would encourage Russia to do “whatever it wants” against NATO allies that don’t spend enough on their own. armed forces.
A B-52 bomber, escorted by two F35s, flew past before Biden’s arrival.
Much of Biden’s speech echoed the themes of the previous day, when he warned the world against isolationism.
But he also hinted at his home race against Trump and what’s at stake in the November election.
“They ask us to stay true to what America stands for,” Biden said, as he invoked the spirit of the Rangers who scaled the cliffs.
‘They are not asking us to give or risk our lives. They ask us to take care of others in our country, within ourselves.
“They are not asking us to do their job. They are asking us to do our job: protect freedom in our time, defend democracy, stand up to aggression abroad and at home, be part of something bigger than ourselves “.
Biden’s presidential lectern was installed atop a World War II Nazi bunker.
US President Joe Biden greets a US military member atop the “Pointe du Hoc” cliff in Cricqueville-en-Bessin, northwestern France
Six American A-20 bombers bombed German positions at the Pointe Du Hoc coastal battery. May 22, 1944. Normandy, France.
Among his audience were veterans such as Private John Wardell, from New Jersey, who landed on June 16, 1944.
“We love you, man,” Biden said. ‘Thank you for all you have done.’
After his speech he sought out the 99-year-old man to shake his hand.
Brett Bruen, who worked in the White House during Barack Obama’s presidency, said Biden’s speech lived up to comparisons with Reagan.
“Reagan spoke at a time when our ideals and institutions faced a serious external threat,” he said.
“Biden had an equally ominous backdrop today and effectively evoked the internal threats currently facing American and allied democracies.
“It also placed Trump’s pettiness and personal grievances in stark contrast to the principles for which many members of the Greatest Generation fought and died.”
Sergeant Ben Beale, with Veterans Jack Mortimer, John Life, Corporal Aaron Stone, Veteran Donald Jones, Corporal Paul Squires and Veteran Peter Newton, as the veterans return to Sword Beach in Normandy, France, after landing there the day D.
Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky early Friday and announced another $225 million in funding, as well as apologizing for delays in aid.
Biden was in Normandy a day earlier, participating in events to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
He used it to underline the importance of international alliances, such as the one that sent more than 150,000 soldiers to occupied France in 24 hours.
“Surrendering to bullies, bowing to dictators, is simply unthinkable,” he said at the Normandy American Cemetery, with 30 D-Day veterans sitting behind him.
“If we did that, it would mean we would be forgetting what happened here on these sacred beaches.”
Earlier in the day, Biden put his money where his mouth is. He met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and announced another $225 million in funding for his fight against Russia, and apologized for delays in delivering aid.
“We’re still in… completely, completely,” Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart during their meeting at a Paris hotel.
