US President Joe Biden in Valley Forge on Friday afternoon gave a speech on the threats facing American democracy, writes UNN with reference to the Voice of America.
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Biden stated the need for Americans to answer for themselves the most important question of all: is democracy still sacred to America?
"This is not a rhetorical, academic or hypothetical question. The question of whether democracy remains inviolate for America is the most urgent question of our time," Biden said, "That is what the 2024 election is about.
The US president recalled the events of January 6, 2021, when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed Congress.
"At the time, even Republican congressmen and commentators on (pro-Republican TV station) Fox News publicly and privately condemned the attack. And as one Republican senator said, Trump's behavior was shameful and demeaning to the country," Biden noted. - But now, as time has passed, politics, fear, money - all of that has had an impact. And (people) who know the truth about Trump and the events of Jan. 6 have abandoned the truth and abandoned our democracy. They made their choice. Now the rest of us - Democrats, independents, some of the Republicans - have to make our choice.
Biden said he "knows his" choice and expressed confidence that Americans will make a choice as well.
"The crowd that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, waving Trump posters and Confederate flags, swept past a portrait of George Washington (in the Capitol), and it didn't make them think - though it should have. The artist who painted the portrait captured that moment because it was, in his words, "one of the highest moral lessons ever given to the world," Biden said.
He recalled that at that moment, "George Washington was at the height of his power, having just defeated the most powerful empire on Earth (the British Empire). He could hold that power for as long as he wanted. But this was not the America he and the American troops here in Valley Forge were fighting for.
"American leaders do not hold power ruthlessly. Our leaders return power to the people - voluntarily. You do your duty. You serve your country. And our country is worthy of your service. We are not perfect, but we are open to everything - good or bad - with the truth of who we are. That's what great nations do, and we are a great nation - the greatest of nations. That's the America I see in our future," Biden emphasized.
The U.S. president said the United States "continues to move forward" by talking "about opportunity, not bloodshed" and "taking destiny into our own hands.
"We don't believe America is failing. We know America is winning. That is American patriotism," the US president added.
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