Christian Smith
BELLEAU, France (AP) — President Joe Biden ended his trip to France by paying his respects at a U.S. military cemetery that Donald Trump notably neglected to visit when he was president, hoping his final stop on Sunday would draw out the stakes of the election of November in total relief.
Before returning to the United States, Biden honored U.S. war dead at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, about an hour from Paris. He laid a wreath in the cemetery’s chapel in front of an expanse of white headstones that mark the final resting place of more than 2,200 American soldiers who fought in World War I.
It was a solemn end to five days in which Trump was an unspoken but unavoidable presence. On the surface, the trip marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day and celebrated the alliance between the United States and France. But during an election year in which Trump challenged fundamental understandings about America’s global role, Biden embraced his Republican predecessor — and potential successor — as a latent foil.
Each ode to the transatlantic partnership was a reminder that Trump could disrupt those relations. Each reference to democracy constituted a counterpoint to his rival’s efforts to nullify a presidential election. The numerous exhortations to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia have created a contrast with Trump’s skepticism toward providing U.S. assistance.
Biden’s praise for the struggle between democracy and autocracy sparked applause in Europe, where the prospect of a return to Trump’s turbulent reign provoked much anxiety. But it remains to be seen how the message will resonate with American voters as Biden’s campaign struggles to connect the dire warnings the Democratic president so often makes about his rival with people’s everyday concerns.
The visit to the cemetery served as a moment to highlight the contrast once again.
“It’s the same story,” Biden said. “America appeared. America showed up to stop the Germans. America showed up to ensure it would not prevail. And America shows up when we are needed, just as our allies show up for us.”
During a trip to France in 2018, Trump skipped plans to go to the cemetery, a decision the White House attributed to the climate at the time. However, subsequent reports claimed that Trump told aides he did not want to go because he viewed the dead soldiers as “suckers” and “losers.” Trump denied the comments, although they were later corroborated by his chief of staff at the time, John Kelly.
Trump’s alleged insults have become a regular feature of Biden’s campaign speeches, including during an April rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
“These soldiers were heroes, just like every American who served this nation,” Biden said. “To believe otherwise, that alone disqualifies someone from seeking this position.”
Biden ignored a direct question about Trump at the cemetery but said it was important to visit the hallowed ground. “The idea that I would come to Normandy and not make the short trip here to pay respects,” he added, his voice trailing off as if expressing disbelief.
Maura Sullivan, a former Navy officer who served on the American Battle Monuments Commission under President Barack Obama, said Biden’s visit would “set an example and do what a president should do.” Now a New Hampshire Democratic Party official, Sullivan said “voters can draw their own conclusions” from that.
Biden’s trip was filled with emotional moments, and the president was left heavy-eyed after meeting with World War II veterans. A 21-gun salute sent eerie smoke over 9,388 white marble headstones at the Normandy American Cemetery.
“This was the most remarkable trip I’ve ever taken,” Biden said on Saturday night, his last in Paris before returning to the US.
At Aisne-Marne, Biden said the trip “surprised me how much it awakened my sense of why it’s so valuable to have these alliances. Why is it so critical. This is how wars are stopped, not started.”
His remarks in recent days have also been charged with political overtones.
On Thursday, at Normandy anniversary ceremonies, Biden said D-Day served as a reminder that alliances make the United States stronger, calling it “a lesson I pray we Americans never forget.” ”. He also highlighted how the war effort turned to immigrants, women and people of color who have often been ignored by history.
Then, on Friday, he went to Pointe du Hoc, a place on the coast where Army Rangers climbed cliffs to overcome Nazi defenses on D-Day and which was also the site, in 1984, of one of the most memorable speeches by President Ronald Reagan about the struggles between the West and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
By following in the footsteps of an iconic Republican, Biden has sharpened his appeal to traditional conservatives, who are often frustrated by Trump’s isolationist views. Biden issued a call for Americans to protect democracy like the Rangers who climbed the cliffs, a message that is in sync with campaign rhetoric that paints his electoral opponent as an existential threat to US values.
While Biden was in France, his campaign announced that it had hired former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s former chief of staff to lead outreach to Republican voters. Kinzinger has run afoul of Trump’s foreign policy and efforts to overturn the last presidential election.
At Pointe du Hoc, Biden said the Army Rangers “fought to defeat a hateful ideology in the 1930s and 1940s. Does anyone doubt that they would not move heaven and earth to defeat the hateful ideologies of today?”
Trump argued that the US needs to pay more attention to its own problems and less to foreign alliances and entanglements. He has also consistently downplayed the importance of American partnerships, suggesting that the United States could abandon its treaty commitments to defend European allies if they did not pay enough for their own defenses.
Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian who wrote a book about Pointe du Hoc and Reagan’s speech, said Biden “had an important position to take” in choosing the same location.
Biden’s speech “did not match Reagan’s in grandeur, nor could it,” Brinkley said. Still, he said Biden “said the right words about why democracy matters.”
Paul Begala, a veteran Democratic strategist, said that could politically help Biden “stand where Reagan was.”
He noted that Biden is struggling with younger voters but appears to be gaining traction among older voters, who may be more receptive to reminders of Reagan’s speech four decades ago.
“He needs a lot of Reagan Republicans to offset his challenges with younger voters,” he said.
Biden’s trip was also punctuated by the pomp of a state visit to Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron organized a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, where four fighter jets flew overhead, and organized a banquet at the presidential Elysee Palace.
“United we stand, divided we fall,” said Macron when toasting Biden. “We are allies and we will remain allies.”
Overall, Biden’s visit was slower paced than other foreign trips. The 81-year-old president did not hold public events on his first day in Paris after arriving on a night flight and did not hold a press conference with journalists, as is customary. John Kirby, a national security spokesman, said it was necessary to prepare “in advance for important engagements” in the days ahead.
“There’s a lot on the calendar,” he said.
Still, it contrasted with Macron’s tendency to offer prestigious guests an intense schedule with a mix of official meetings, business talks, cultural events and private dinners in chic restaurants.
When the 46-year-old French leader hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping last month, the two-day agenda was packed with activities, including a trip to the Pyrenees mountains near the border with Spain, where Macron spent some time time as a child.
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Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report.
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