In his first campaign speech of the election year, on the eve of the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, President Joe Biden made clear what he believes is at stake in 2024.
“The topic of my speech today is deadly serious,” Biden said, “and I think it needs to be made at the outset of this campaign.”
Speaking near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania — where the Continental Army trained and reorganized under General George Washington during the American Revolution — the Democratic president warned of dire consequences for the country and American democracy if his once and likely future opponent, former President Donald Trump, were to retake the White House.
“Today we are here to answer the most important of questions: is democracy still America’s sacred cause?” the president said, invoking a phrase used by Washington.
"This is not rhetorical, academic, or hypothetical," the president continued. "Whether democracy's still America's 'sacred cause' is the most urgent question of our time, and it's what the 2024 election is all about."
Choosing to make his first major campaign move of 2024 from a battleground state steeped in American history, Biden opened and closed his remarks invoking Washington’s legacy.
“He could have held onto that power as long as he wanted,” Biden said. “But that wasn't the America he and the American troops of Valley Forge had fought for. In America, our leaders don't hold on to power relentlessly. Our leaders return power to the people – willingly.”
The historic picture Biden sought to paint was against the backdrop of the Jan. 6 anniversary – a day in which Biden argued “we nearly lost America” when a mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the building while lawmakers were counting Electoral College votes that certified Biden’s win.
Taking deeply personal jabs at Trump, the president described his predecessor as someone who “admires” authoritarian leaders and dictators around the world and uses language echoing that of “Nazi Germany.”
“He proudly posted on social media the words that best describe his 2024 campaign: ‘revenge, power, dictatorship,’” Biden said. “There is no confusion about who Trump is and what he intends to do.”
The president also condemned political violence of any kind while also taking a swipe at his likely 2024 opponent: "I'll say what Donald Trump won't: Political violence is never, ever acceptable in the United States. It has no place in democracy. None."
Biden, who has repeatedly said reentered political life because he felt he was best capable of defeating Trump in 2020, believes focusing on defending democracy to be central for persuading voters to reject Trump once again.
"The choice is clear: Donald Trump's campaign is about him," Biden said. "Not America, not you. He's willing to sacrifice our democracy to put himself at power."
“We all know who Donald Trump is,” Biden said. “The question we have to answer is, who are we?”
“These MAGA voices who know the truth about Trump and Jan. 6 have abandoned the truth and abandoned democracy,” Biden said Friday. “They’ve made their choice. Now the rest of us – Democrats, Independents, mainstream Republicans – we have to make our choice. I know mine. And I believe I know America’s.”
Trump, who faces 91 criminal charges -- including several stemming from his efforts to overturn his loss to Biden -- argues that Biden and top Democrats are themselves seeking to undermine democracy by using the legal system to thwart the campaign of his chief rival.
"Today, I make this sacred pledge to you," Biden said. "The defense, protection, and preservation of American democracy will remain, as it has been, the central cause of my presidency. America, as we begin this election year, we must be clear, democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot."
Before his remarks, Biden, joined by his wife Jill, participated in a wreath laying ceremony at Valley Forge National Arch, which honors the troops who camped there from December 1777 to June 1778. He also toured the home that served as Washington’s headquarters.
Biden has frequently invoked the dangers of Jan. 6 since his 2021 inauguration on the same Capitol steps where police officers were struggling to battle back rioters just two weeks earlier. On the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack, Biden had stood in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall, a historic spot where the House of Representatives used to meet before the Civil War. On Jan. 6, rioters filled the area, some looking for lawmakers who had run for cover.
On the second anniversary, Biden presented the nation’s second highest civilian award to 12 people who were involved in defending the Capitol during the attack.
Friday’s event included supporters and young people motivated by the attack to get involved in politics, campaign advisers said.
The speech was originally scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 6, the three-year anniversary of the Capitol riot, but was moved up to Friday due to a potential storm in the area over the weekend.
The Associated Press contributed to this report