Joe Biden once again sees it as his life’s mission to stop Donald Trump. Preventing a second term for the Republican, whom he sees as a threat to democracy, was the central motive for entering the race for the White House four years ago. Biden defeated Trump, but everything indicates that the fight will be repeated, as will the motivation. “We have to get it, not for me. If Trump didn’t run, I’m not sure I would run. But we can’t let him win,” he said this Tuesday at a fundraiser in Weston, Massachusetts, at the home of Alan Solomont, a Democratic donor who was ambassador to Spain and is chairman of the U.S.-Spain Chamber of Commerce.
In the 2020 presidential election campaign, Biden defined himself as a “transition candidate”. Biden just turned 81 and would finish a hypothetical second term at 86. Because of his age, greater importance than usual was given to his choice for the vice presidency, which fell to Kamala Harris after a long wait. There was speculation that whoever held that office would run for president in 2024, once Trump had disappeared from the political scene and political polarization had subsided.
However, the former president not only exposed the hoax that the election was stolen from him, but also convinced the vast majority of Republican voters of it. He is the favorite in the Republican primaries and is also leading the polls for the presidential election. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris’ character hasn’t caught on and Biden believes the person who has the best chance of defeating Trump is himself again. “I may not be the only one, but I know him well. And I know the danger it poses to our democracy. And we’ve been through this before,” he said at a White House news conference in April.
When Democrats performed better than expected in the November 2022 election, Biden had not yet confirmed he would run for re-election. He assured that he planned to make the decision in early 2023, and even then emphasized how important it was to him that Trump “does not become the next president again.”
He has repeated that message from the start of the re-election campaign, but until this Tuesday never explicitly suggested that he might not run for a second term without Trump. “We will always defend, protect and fight for democracy,” he said this Tuesday. “That’s why I’m running.”
“Trump isn’t even hiding the ball anymore,” Biden also said at another event, also in the Boston area. “He tells us what he’s going to do. “He doesn’t mince his words,” he added, describing his rival as a “defeated former president.” Trump has openly vowed to go after his political rivals if he returns to the White House in revenge for his own allegations. “Yes. “If they do that, and they have already done that, but if they continue to do that, yes, it could certainly happen the other way around,” he said in an interview with Univision in November. “They’ve let the genie out of the bottle ” He continued. “You’ve done something that allows the next party… if I happen to be president and I see someone who’s doing well and hits me, I say, ‘Go and impeach him,'” he added he added.
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The former president has embraced increasingly violent and authoritarian rhetoric. He has described his political rivals as “vermin” who must be “exterminated” and also reiterated that undocumented immigrants are “poisoning the blood of the country,” phrases reminiscent of Nazi Germany or fascist Italy, as they have shown have. the historians. Trump has also attacked judges and prosecutors, suggested the execution of his former chief of staff Mark Miley and advocated for shooting shoplifters.
Trump hits back
Aware that attacks on the threat he poses to democracy hurt him, Trump tried to turn the tables last weekend: “Biden is not the defender of American democracy. “Biden is the destroyer of democracy,” he said at an event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “He exploited the government like a Third World political tyrant against his political opponents,” he added.
“American democracy, I give you my word as Biden, is at stake,” said the president at one of the three campaign fundraisers in the Boston area that he hosted this Tuesday. “He didn’t even come to my inauguration. “I can’t say I was disappointed, but he didn’t even show up,” he said at the three events, drawing laughter from the audience. “I suspect he will not appear at my next inauguration either,” he added to applause from the audience.
Biden is not alone in his warnings about the danger posed by Trump. Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney just published her book “Oath and Honor” with the same message. “We will vote to preserve our republic,” he writes. “As a nation, we can endure harmful policies for four years. But we cannot survive a president who is willing to destroy our Constitution,” he added, warning of the danger that the United States could slide into a dictatorial regime for the first time in its history.
On Friday, Biden will host another fundraiser at the home of another former ambassador to Spain. It will take place in Los Angeles, at the home of James Costos and his partner Michael Smith, a famous interior designer who decorated the White House for President Barack Obama. He hopes to raise millions of dollars with Hollywood personalities following strikes by writers and actors in the first act. The musician Lenny Kravitz is scheduled to perform. The event’s hosts include film director Steven Spielberg and his wife, actress Kate Capshaw. as well as record industry mogul David Geffen; director and actor Rob Reiner; “Scandal” director Shonda Rhimes and “This is Spinal Tap” director Rob Reiner, according to an invite obtained by the AP. Barbra Streisand will also be in attendance, as will former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat.
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