And I understand why that symbolism, amplified perhaps by the dramatic red backlighting, may have felt ominous.

Personally, I wouldn’t have used Marines in my photo-op. The military's allegiance is to the state, not to a political party or leader. And that’s obviously appropriate, since the civilian-military divide remains a bedrock of democracy. Biden hasn’t actually tried to bring the military into political affairs and civilian life. Trump wanted the military to serve as a personal security force - he longed to repress dissidents, and to deploy the National Guard on Jan. But Biden was in reality responding to Trump's attempted politicization of it.īoth Trump and now Biden have played with the symbolism of the military’s relationship with democracy in political oratory, but toward radically different ends: Trump wished to use the military to subvert democracy, while Biden hopes that the military will help protect it. Some analysts criticized Biden for symbolically politicizing the military. In 2020, more than half of the military’s officer corps said they strongly disapproved of the president, a phenomenon likely explained by military officers’ attachment to legal norms and propriety, and their relatively high levels of education (one of the most common predictors of opposition to Trump). What they found was a solid 58 of respondents agreed with Biden that Trump and his. Trump’s defense secretary, Mark Esper, publicly shot down his calls to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would have deployed troops to the streets. Biden gave his speech right before Labor Day weekend and then Reuters/Ipsos polled Americans after the holiday. Milley and other military officials talked Trump down after he called on them to shoot protesters in the legs, and they covertly maneuvered to ensure a peaceful transfer of power as Trump manufactured lies about election fraud. Top military officials were instrumental in thwarting Trump’s insurrection attempts when he was in office. “We have to defend it, protect it, stand up for it.” He implied those Marines, who stood with him in front of Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was approved and where the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, are a key part of protecting democracy.īiden’s faith (probably) isn’t misplaced. Biden speech: ‘Democracy is under assault’ from election deniers and political violence, president warns - live The president called out Maga forces as a threat ‘to our personal rights, to the. “For a long time, we’ve told ourselves that American democracy is guaranteed, but it’s not,” Biden said. It was an answer to Trump's attempts to thwart a peaceful transfer of power and mobilize the military against democracy during his tenure. By placing Marines in his periphery, Biden aimed to showcase his faith in the military apparatus and its ability to back the democratic order - to defend against future attacks on the electoral system. Biden focused in his remarks on identifying Trump and his most hardcore supporters as a danger to the republic, with their disregard for democratic rule and their propensity for political violence. But that doesn't really explain why they were at this specific event. And Democrats have to own other crazy s- where, you know, a bodega guy gets attacked and then he's brought up on charges because he fought back.The White House said in a statement on Friday that it was a gesture of 'respect' for these service members. Maybe Stacey Abrams wasn't as gracious as she should have been - that issue a - Republicans own that issue of election denial. Hillary Clinton got in her purple suit, okay? That's just the worst one to fight that on. 'I don't know why a smart guy like you would go there,' Maher reacted. The HBO star then clashed with one of his guests, Reason Magazine editor-at-large Matt Welch, who claimed 'there's a lot of election denial' within the Democratic Party, pointing to Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who never formally conceded her 2018 defeat. He later called on Americans to vote in the upcoming. President Joe Biden delivers a primetime speech at Independence National Historical Park Septemin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 'As your president, I will fight for democracy with every fiber of my being, and I'm asking every American to join me,' Mr. PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - SEPTEMBER 01: U.S.