Symbols matter. Two and a half centuries ago, George Washington mobilized troops and withstood the winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the Revolutionary War, in his fight for democracy.
President Joe Biden went there this Friday, in the shadow of the events of January 6, 2021, to make a “salvo” for democracy, “the sacred cause,” in the face of the threat posed by Donald Trump.
“Today we have to answer the most important question. Is democracy in the United States a sacred cause?” Biden said. “It is not a rhetorical, academic or hypothetical question. That democracy continues to be the sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time, this is what the 2024 elections are about,” she stressed. It is a referendum between freedom or tyranny. “When the January 6 attack occurred, there was no doubt about the truth. Even congressional Republicans and Fox News commentators publicly and privately condemned the attack. And, as one Republican senator said, Trump’s conduct was shameful and humiliating to the country,” the president continued.
“But as time has passed, politics, fear and money have intervened. And those MAGA voices – Trumpists, for Make America Great Again – who know the truth about Trunp and January 6, have abandoned the truth and our democracy. They have made their choice. Now, the rest of us, Democrats, independents, the usual Republicans, have to make our choice,” he insisted in his speech.
“There is never a place for political violence in the United States,” Biden condemned. On other occasions he turned to Lincoln or Roosevelt. This time he was inspired by Washington, which represents the peaceful transition of power.
“Democracy is not a secondary issue, it is a sacred cause,” he insisted.
Biden had planned to make this speech on Saturday, the exact day of the third anniversary of the assault on the Capitol to annul the electoral result and make it easier for Trump to remain in power, but he brought it forward due to the weather forecast. This was his first electoral event of the year and his third since he announced his campaign for re-election last year. Polls say at least a quarter of Americans believe the false theory that the FBI was behind 9/6 is true.
Trump, accused of encouraging the insurgency, plans today to praise the “patriots” who came to his defense. The detainees are “political prisoners” and, as autocrats often do, he accuses the legitimate president of being a danger to democracy.