President Joe Biden joined several world leaders in France yesterday to celebrate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Apparently Sen. Rick Scott was not impressed.
After a Fox Business host accused the Democrat of taking “veiled shots” at Donald Trump, the Florida Republican reflected on his father’s service in World War II before concluding:
For the record, the sitting president did not mention his predecessor. Biden also made no reference to Republicans or any political party.
Instead, the Democrat emphasized a variety of core principles, including the idea that democracy is worth fighting for.
“In memory of those who fought here, died here and literally saved the world here, let us be worthy of their sacrifice,” Biden said. “Let us be the generation where when the history of our time is written – 10, 20, 30, 50, 80 years from now – it will be said: When the moment came, we met the moment. We stood strong. Our alliances have become stronger. And we have also saved democracy in our time.
In the same remarks in Colleville-sur-Mer, the incumbent president added: “America has invested in our alliances and forged new alliances – not only out of altruism, but also out of our own interest. America’s unique ability to bring nations together is an undeniable source of our strength and power. Isolationism was not the answer eighty years ago, and it is not the answer today.”
Biden went on to say: “We live in a time when democracy worldwide is more in peril than at any time since… these beaches were stormed in 1944. Now we must ask ourselves: will we stand against tyranny, against evil, against the crushing cruelty of the iron fist? Will we stand for freedom? Will we defend democracy? Shall we stand together? My answer is yes. And that can only be yes.”
To be sure, I take the circumstances into account. In the United States, election season has arrived and the incumbent president is about to take part in the vote, which he will share with his immediate predecessor – who is increasingly brazen about his open affinity for authoritarians and authoritarianism. When Biden defends and celebrates democracy, his words do not exist in a political vacuum; they have a broader meaning.
But given that the Democrat actually said it, and the principles the president proclaimed, if Scott honestly found his speech “disgusting,” he’s saying a lot more about the far-right senator than about the president.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
