POINTE DU HOC, France – An appeal to the soldiers who braved Nazi fire on D-Day, President Joe Biden called on Americans to put country first and not cast aside the democratic traditions that an earlier generation died to protect.
Biden spoke a day after the 80th anniversary of D-Day, standing atop the steep 100-foot cliff that Army Rangers climbed to destroy artillery and push back German forces that had overrun Europe in World War II.
He drew a parallel between the sacrifices made to defeat Hitler’s forces and the struggle to overcome what he called the “hateful ideologies of today,” an apparent reference to extremist movements at home and abroad.
Soldiers who stretched rope ladders to climb the cliff against enemy machine guns would have wanted Americans to demonstrate the selflessness needed today to preserve democratic freedoms, he said.
“American democracy requires the hardest thing of all: to believe that we are part of something bigger than ourselves,” Biden said, standing atop a German bunker used to fire on troops landed on Omaha Beach. “Democracy starts with each of us. It starts when one person decides there is something more important than themselves. When they decide that their country is more important than themselves. The Rangers decided that at Pointe du Hoc.”
Despite Hitler’s defeat and America’s victory in the Cold War that followed, the fight for a free and independent Europe continues, Biden said. He pointed to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, a democratic state and Western ally.
“Does anyone doubt that? [the soldiers who captured Pointe du Hoc] Today, would America want America to stand up to Putin’s aggression here in Europe?” he said, looking at an audience that included Pfc John Wardell of New Jersey, a 99-year-old veteran who landed in France after D-Day in June 1944.
Earlier in the day, Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris. He announced a new $225 million aid package to Ukraine that includes air defense interceptors, artillery ammunition and other capabilities. He also issued an unusual apology to Zelenskyy over the resulting months-long delay in aid deliveries partisan disagreement in Congress.
“You didn’t bow down,” Biden told Zelensky. “You didn’t give in at all. You continue to fight in a way that is simply remarkable. And we’re not going to walk away from you.”
Zelenskyy described the deployment in the same terms as Biden, saying: “Just like during World War II, how the United States helped save human lives, save Europe – and we count on your continued support and stand shoulder to shoulder next to us . ,” he said.
The two will meet again next week in southern Italy at a summit of the Group of 7 (G7), a collection of the wealthy democracies.
Although Biden framed his Pointe du Hoc speech as a broad battle between authoritarianism and democracy, freedom and repression, the subtext of the campaign was hard to miss.
Biden and his rival, Donald Trump, symbolize different tensions in American foreign policy. Biden is an internationalist who believes that joining like-minded nations makes the US more prosperous and formidable.
Trump’s “America First” approach is heir to an isolationist movement that has endured in recent decades. If Trump wins, former aides fear he will withdraw from a NATO alliance that protects Europe from Russian aggression.
“They stormed the beaches with their allies,” Biden said of D-Day troops. “Does anyone believe these Rangers would want America to go it alone today?”
Polls show that Biden’s age is one of the main obstacles to his re-election. Luckily for him, he’s spent the last two days in the company of 90- and 100-somethings, which makes him look fresh in comparison.
Before the 81-year-old president gave a speech on Omaha Beach on Thursday, he met with a group of veterans who were driven to him by active military personnel.
“Don’t grow old,” someone advised Biden.
Another veteran in an army jacket shook Biden’s hand. As the man sat back in his wheelchair, the president said, “Good move, man.”
Biden will hold meetings with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Saturday. He will also take part in a parade to the Elysee Palace and later attend a state dinner on his behalf.
There are signs that his son Hunter BidenThe legal problems were a distraction. First Lady Jill Biden joined her husband for the D-Day speech on Thursday, but later flew home to attend the criminal trial in Wilmington, Del. She was expected to rejoin Biden in Paris on Saturday for the state dinner.
Headlines about his son’s fate crop up from time to time during the president’s trip. Just as Biden began his speech at Pointe du Hoc, there was a new one: the prosecutor in Hunter’s trial had dropped his case.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
