Joe Biden, in Tempe, Arizona, September 28, 2023. REBECCA NOBLE / AFP
“Something dangerous is happening in America right now”: Joe Biden once again issued a dark and serious warning about the fate of democracy in the United States on Thursday, September 28th. But this time, Democratic President Donald Trump attacked very directly, believing that the ideology of his Republican opponent and his supporters “threatened the very essence of our nation.”
“Democracies don’t necessarily die from gun violence. They can die when people remain silent, when people do not mobilize, or when people do not condemn attacks on democracy. When people are willing to give up the most precious thing because they are struggling with frustration, disillusionment, fatigue and a feeling of exclusion,” said Joe Biden.
For this speech – according to the White House, the fourth that he has dedicated to the topic of democracy – the 80-year-old president traveled to Arizona, the country of the former Republican Senator John McCain, in whose honor a library was to be built.
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Joe Biden, a candidate for a second term, was bound to the war hero by a friendship that transcended partisan divisions and, in his view, was emblematic of the values threatened by Donald Trump.
“Deafening silence”
The former Republican president, the big favorite of the Republican primaries, is accused by the courts of involvement in the attack on the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021 and of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. In his speech, Joe Biden, which is rare, named his opponent and repeatedly used excerpts from his opponent’s speeches to denounce them.
“Trump says that the Constitution has given him, and I quote, the right to do whatever he wants as president,” the Democrat started, denouncing a “dangerous idea,” while also denouncing the spread of “conspiracy theories” through his Opponents and their desire to “divide” the country attacked. He judged that his predecessor “was not guided by the constitution, by a sense of duty or by respect for his countrymen, but by revenge and resentment.” Joe Biden also quoted this sentence that Donald Trump said in March before a Republican Party convention: “I will avenge you. »
“There is no doubt that the Republican Party today (…) is driven by the Trumpists,” Joe Biden said in this speech, which coincides with the first day of an impeachment inquiry led against him by lawmakers from the “Grand Old Party.” became (Republican).
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The president was particularly outraged by the Republicans’ “deafening silence” after Donald Trump’s “hateful” comments against the Armed Forces’ chief of staff, General Mark Milley. The billionaire had suggested that the latter was guilty of treason and suggested that such an act could be punishable by death.
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“The more people who vote, the more engaged the entire nation will be, the stronger democracy will be,” said Joe Biden, who has previously had difficulty generating enthusiasm in the polls, largely due to his age.
The campaign takes on a new dimension
In Tempe, near Phoenix, the American president was questioned by a man who criticized him for not declaring a “climate emergency.” Joe Biden promised to meet him after his speech if he agreed to remain silent and continued: “Democracy is never easy, we just had the demonstration.” »
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Joe Biden made defending the “soul” of America a key focus of his duel against Donald Trump in 2020 and therefore intends to campaign on the same theme ahead of next year’s presidential election.
The campaign between the two men took on a new dimension this week as they successively visited the Detroit, Michigan region, the cradle of the American automobile industry. While the major union United Auto Workers (UAW) launched an unprecedented strike against three manufacturers, Joe Biden took part in an unprecedented picket in front of the General Motors site for an American president.
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Donald Trump went to a small, non-union factory. Both want to appeal to the electorate, particularly the white working class, whose vote could be crucial in 2024.
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