In a momentous address that could set the tone for his upcoming re-election campaign, President Joe Biden issued a resounding and impassioned cautionary message on Thursday. He warned that the bedrock of American democracy stands in jeopardy, imperiled by the looming specter of a resurgent Donald Trump, a likely contender in the next presidential race.
Confronted with persistent concerns about his approval ratings and advancing age, President Biden endeavored to rouse his subdued supporters and galvanize the undecided electorate. With fervor, he elucidated the perils he firmly believed a second Trump presidency would inflict upon the United States, a nation that has long held the mantle of global democratic leadership.
In Phoenix, Arizona, President Biden, aged 80, declared that the nation currently stands at “an inflection point” in its history. He asserted that the bedrock of American character and its future trajectory faced grave threats from the authoritarian tenets of Trump’s self-proclaimed “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement.
In a voice at times reduced to a mere whisper, employed to underscore the gravity of his message, Biden evoked the memory of the late John McCain, a former Republican senator with whom he shared a close bond. This invocation served to highlight what he portrayed as the selfless virtues intrinsic to democracy.
However, the President’s speech was momentarily interrupted by a heckler demanding an immediate declaration of a climate emergency. Biden retorted, “If you shush up, I will meet with you immediately after this, OK?” before pointedly adding, “Democracy never is easy – as you just demonstrated.”
Although he mentioned Trump by name only once during his half-hour discourse, Biden embarked on a deliberate contrast between democratic norms and traditions and the conduct he perceived as emblematic of his predecessor.
He articulated that democracy signifies “rule of the people, not rule of the monarchy, not rule of money, not rule of the mighty.” It entails, regardless of political affiliation, the sanctity of free and fair elections and the imperative to respect their outcomes, whether victory or defeat. Furthermore, democracy, according to Biden, means unequivocally rejecting and condemning political violence, deeming it “undemocratic” and asserting that it must never be normalized to attain political power.
These comments notably alluded to the events of January 6, when a mob inspired by Trump attempted to thwart the certification of Biden’s election victory at the U.S. Capitol.
Despite Trump’s inability to overturn the 2020 election results, Biden cautioned that the peril had not dissipated. He emphatically stated, “Today, democracy is still at risk. This is not hyperbole. It’s a simple truth.” He highlighted ongoing threats of violence, the most recent of which was directed at General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the U.S. Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff, whom Trump accused of “treason.”
Biden attributed these threats to what he termed “MAGA extremists” who, he asserted, lacked comprehension of the consequences of their actions.
This pro-democracy address was delivered at an event commemorating the memory of McCain, one of Biden’s political adversaries and a two-time GOP presidential candidate who frequently voiced criticism of Trump before his passing in 2018.
Biden portrayed his relationship with McCain as a fitting tribute to American democracy, as the two men had often engaged in bipartisan cooperation across the aisle during their respective tenures as U.S. senators, transcending party lines—a feature of political life that, Biden contended, has become exceedingly rare within today’s Republican Party.
He asserted, “There is no doubt that today’s Republican party is driven and intimidated by MAGA extremists.” He warned that the implementation of their radical agenda would fundamentally reshape the very institutions of American democracy.
It has been reported that Biden has been consistently characterizing Trump as a threat to democracy during private donor events aimed at raising campaign funds for the upcoming election. Thursday’s public address marked the first time he had articulated this theme openly since the congressional midterm elections of the previous year, signaling his intention to make it a central focus of his presidential campaign.
As we provide you with this app free of charge, we also rely on your support. We are a reader-funded news organization, and contributions from readers around the world are instrumental in sustaining our independence and the quality of our investigative journalism. With over 1.5 million supporters from 180 countries, your financial backing empowers us to remain open to all and fiercely independent. There are compelling reasons to support us:
1. Our high-quality investigative journalism serves as a vigilant check on the actions of the wealthy and powerful.
2. We maintain our independence, free from the influence of billionaire owners, ensuring that your contributions directly fuel our reporting.
3. Setting up your support takes less than a minute, and you can take pride in making a substantial impact in advancing open, independent journalism.
