Biden frames his reelection bid as a battle to save democracy from Trump

President Joe Biden invited a group of academics and historians to lunch at the White House on Wednesday, January 3, to discuss current threats to democracy and institutions.

Biden has turned to American history on several occasions in his professed crusade in defense of democracy. In 2022, he gave a speech in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. This past Friday, he visited Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where George Washington regrouped his troops during the winter of 1777-1778 to prepare the counteroffensive against the British. Shortly afterward, Biden held his first rally of 2024 near there, in Blue Bell.

In his speech, the president made it clear that he considers his re-election bid to be a battle to save democracy from the threat posed by Donald Trump. The Republican said that, should he come to power, he will be a “dictator” for a day. He has also accused Biden of being the real threat to democracy.

The rhetorical battle between the two men took place just before the anniversary of the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which continues to mark American political and judicial life three years later.

Citizens across the board have lost faith in the system. A poll published by Gallup on Saturday shows that only 28% of American citizens are satisfied with the way democracy is working. It’s a new historical low, even below the 35% that was reported in the weeks following the attack on Congress, which attempted to prevent the certification of Biden’s victory in the 2020 elections.

“Americans are preparing to elect the next president at a time when they are less happy about the state of U.S. democracy than at any point in at least 40 years. The 2024 election is expected to match a historically unpopular incumbent president with a former president whom voters previously rejected for a second term,” summarizes Jeffrey M. Jones, a senior editor at Gallup.

As Trump counterattacks, Biden has placed the defense of democracy at the center of his campaign discourse. He has failed to convince voters with his handling of the economy, despite record job creation, nor with his legislative achievements, which have promoted industrial and infrastructure investments. The right to abortion continues to mobilize the Democratic electorate, but it’s not an issue that Biden — a practicing Catholic — feels very comfortable with. The Gaza war has caused his support among young people and Arab-Americans to collapse, two groups that closed ranks with him in 2020. And — at 81-years-old — voters see him as too old to lead the country. Hence, to a large extend, Biden’s only chance to achieve re-election consists of mobilizing voters on the basis of anti-Trump sentiment.

Perhaps this explains why — after avoiding quoting Trump at all costs for most of his term — Biden has decided to mix things up. Never until this past Friday’s speech at Blue Bell — on a stage full of American flags — had he been so harsh against his rival. He even blamed Trump for the death of several law enforcement officers during and following the assault on the Capitol. “They died because his lies brought a mob to Washington,” Biden railed.

Trading insults

In an unusual move for Biden, he called Trump a “loser” and “sick” and referred to his attitude as “despicable.” The president — born in Scranton, Pennsylvania — first visited Valley Forge when he was a boy scout. This past Friday, he evoked the words of George Washington when he said that his mission was a “sacred cause” of seeking freedom and democracy. He condemned Trump’s attitude during the assault on the Capitol as being “among the worst derelictions of duty by a president in American history. [It was] an attempt to overturn a free and fair election by force and violence.”

Biden made it clear that he will make the defense of democracy the central pillar of his campaign. Because, according to the president, that threat is still very much alive: “Trump’s assault on democracy isn’t just part of his past. It’s what he’s promising for the future. He’s been straightforward. He’s not hiding the ball. His first rally for the 2024 campaign opened with a choir of January 6th insurrectionists singing from prison on a cellphone while images of the January 6th riot played on the big screen behind him at his rally. Can you believe that?” Biden asked his supporters. He then recalled that Trump has promised a presidency of “revenge.”

The president reminded his audience that Trump has called those who oppose him “vermin” and that he has spoken about immigrants “poisoning the blood” of Americans. He noted that this was reminiscent of “the same language used in Nazi Germany.” Biden also underlined Trump’s admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of North Korea.

However, Biden avoided mentioning the four federal charges filed against Trump for a total of 91 crimes. Biden has distanced himself from this process, respecting the independence of the Department of Justice, as well as the functions of the attorney general — Merrick Garland, his appointee — and the special counsels. Nor did he refer to Trump’s removal from the primary ballots in the states of Colorado and Maine. The Supreme Court has admitted the former president’s appeal against the Colorado decision, with a decision set to be made in February.

Trump is using his judicial problems to show himself as being politically persecuted, to get the Republican base to close ranks with him. He has also accused Biden of instigating these charges without evidence.

“Crooked Joe is staging his pathetic, fear-mongering campaign event in Pennsylvania today. Did you see him? He was stuttering through the whole thing, he’s going, ‘He’s a threat to Democracy.’ They’ve weaponized the government and he’s saying I’m a threat to democracy,” Trump scoffed. “The only reason Biden is at Valley Forge abusing George Washington’s legacy … [is because] he knows he can’t show his face at the Southwest border,” the Republican frontrunner added.

Such serious accusations between candidates aren’t frequent in US presidential elections. The 2024 campaign is set to be the most tense in modern American history.