Biden Touts Democracy at Famed D-Day Site, Tacitly Hitting Trump

President calls on Americans to rebuke ‘hateful ideologies’
Ronald Reagan spoke at Pointe Du Hoc four decades before Biden

Joe Biden delivers a speech in front of the monument on the "Pointe du Hoc" clifftop in Cricqueville-en-Bessin, France on June 7. — Joe Biden delivers a speech in front of the monument on the "Pointe du Hoc" clifftop in Cricqueville-en-Bessin, France on June 7.
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

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By Michelle Jamrisko and Jordan Fabian

June 7, 2024 at 3:49 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

President Joe Biden called on Americans to defend freedom and democracy, drawing an implicit contrast with Republican Donald Trump by invoking the heroism of US Army Rangers who scaled the cliffs of Pointe Du Hoc on D-Day to take out a Nazi position.

Then-President Ronald Reagan delivered one of his most famous speeches at the same spot four decades ago, exhorting Americans not to give into isolationism and to stand up to the Soviet Union. By choosing the site, Biden sought to align himself with one former Republican president to take on another who has embraced strongmen and championed an “America First” foreign policy.