Biden heads to a poignant spot of American heroism to make the case for democracy
CNN
President Joe Biden is set to present a case for democracy Friday against the backdrop of a key turning point for allied forces in World War II – setting up a dramatic moment with war once more on Europe’s doorstep and teeing up a domestic contrast with his political rival.
President Joe Biden is set to present a case for democracy Friday against the backdrop of a key turning point for allied forces in World War II – setting up a dramatic moment with war once more on Europe’s doorstep and teeing up a domestic contrast with his political rival. Biden will travel to Pointe du Hoc in Normandy, France, on Friday – a site separating the Omaha and Utah beaches where American Army Rangers scaled steep cliffs to secure positions against the Germans – for a speech on the power of democracy invoking the symbolism of the location. In a week filled with poignant images featuring America’s Greatest Generation, the speech will stand out as a call to modern-day action against an isolationist streak seeping into American politics and a rise of authoritarianism around the world. Not lost on White House aides planning the speech is the one delivered in the same spot 40 years ago by Ronald Reagan, a Republican who issued warnings against isolationism in the face of tyranny. Eighty years after the allied landings, the president will draw a “throughline” from World War II to today in his remarks, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters. But the subtext of the speech is also likely to be aimed at former President Donald Trump. “He’ll talk about the stakes of that moment – an existential fight between dictatorship and freedom. He’ll talk about the men who scaled those cliffs and how they … put the country ahead of themselves. And he’ll talk about the dangers of isolationism and how if we back dictators, fail to stand up to them, they keep going, and ultimately, America and the world pays a greater price,” Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One.
