Biden warns of threats to democracy in D-Day speech

President Joe Biden on Friday urged voters to “stay true to what America stands for”, urging them to draw on the bravery of US forces to protect and uphold democracy in an address commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

Standing on the cliff at Pointe du Hoc, overlooking the Omaha and Utah beaches of Normandy where thousands of US troops landed on June 6, 1944, Biden invoked their spirit to highlight fears around democracy and the policies of his opponent in the US election, former president Donald Trump.

“They ask us, what will we do? They’re not asking us to scale these cliffs but they are asking us to stay true to what America stands for,” Biden said, referring to the group of US Rangers who stormed the key strong point on the Normandy coast as part of the operation that would begin to turn the tide of the second world war.

Though Biden did not mention Trump by name, he alluded to the need to stand up for democratic rights both in the US and abroad, in a clear reference to the former Republican president, who Biden has identified as a threat to democracy after the January 6 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

“[The Rangers are] asking us to do our job, to protect freedom in our time, to defend democracy, to stand up to aggression abroad and at home, to be part of something bigger than ourselves,” Biden said. “My fellow Americans, I simply refuse to believe that America’s greatness is a thing of the past.”

Biden also took aim at Trump’s isolationist “America First” foreign policy, including his threats to leave Nato or cease supporting Ukraine. “Does anyone believe these Rangers would want Americans to go at it alone today?” Biden asked.

He added: “They believed America was the beacon of the world and I am sure they believed that it would be that way forever.”

The spot where Biden spoke was also highly symbolic. Pointe du Hoc was where former Republican president Ronald Reagan gave a rousing cold war-era speech on the 40th anniversary of D-Day in 1984, when he called on Americans to “continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died”.

Earlier on Friday Biden met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and apologised for the uncertainty around US support and the slow arrival of some $60bn in American assistance, which had been held up by an isolationist wing in the Republican party connected to Trump.

“We had trouble getting the bill that we had to pass that had the money in it. Some of our very conservative members were holding it up. But we got it done finally,” Biden said.

Zelenskyy replied that the recent aid deliveries were “very important”, adding: “It’s so necessary for the feeling of our people that we are not alone. We are with you, our strategic partner.”

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