'Trump could destroy American democracy': US Biden says as he opens 2024 poll campaign

WASHINGTON: During his first 2024 campaign speech in Pennsylvania for the presidential elections, US President Joe Biden underscored that his potential opponent, Donald Trump, is ready to jeopardize democracy by prioritizing his own power, according to CNN. Biden also criticized Trump's campaign for being fixated on the past rather than focusing on the future.

Delivering a furious attack on former President Trump, Biden issued a stark warning that Trump's reelection would post a threat to American democracy. Emphasising that the most urgent question of our time is the "value Americans place on democracy", Biden said this during a speech on the eve of the third anniversary of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. "Donald Trump's campaign is about him, not America. Not you. Donald Trump's campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future. He's willing to sacrifice our democracy and put himself in power," Biden said while striking an impassioned political attack on his opponent, Trump.

The backdrop of Biden's speech near Valley Forge, where George Washington rallied an undersupplied and demoralised Continental Army at the height of the American Revolution, allowed the president to contrast Washington, who would eventually set the precedent of relinquishing presidential power in the face of an adoring new nation, with Trump, who went to extraordinary lengths to maintain his grip on power, encouraging his supporters to march to the Capitol as he refused to accept the result of the 2020 election, CNN reported. Biden further said that three years ago, "We nearly lost America."

"For the first time in our history, insurrectionists have come to stop the peaceful transfer of power in America. Smashing windows, shattering doors, and attacking the police. Outside, gallows were erected as a MAGA crowd chanted, 'Hang Mike Pence!' Inside, they hunted for Speaker Pelosi," he added. His message could rally a base that has been souring on Biden over his handling of various foreign and domestic crises, including the Israel-Hamas war and the influx of migrants at the US-Mexico border, according to CNN. As per the polling, Biden has not been shown as a popular leader, and democracy itself is a central issue for Americans ahead of November.

US President Biden further made it clear and said that he believed the threat to American democracy was not abstract and directly placed the blame on the deaths of several people who lost their lives on January 6 on "Donald Trump's lie". "They died because his lies brought a mob to Washington," Biden said, adding that Trump, "as usual, left the dirty work to others." He criticized Trump for his rhetoric in rallies and previous speeches, accusing him of expressing "admiration" for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Biden also condemned Trump for making jokes about the attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, in October 2022.

"He laughed about it," Biden. "What a sick -," he said before stopping himself, prompting the crowd to laugh. "Who in God's name does he think he is?" Biden said. With time, "politics, fear, and money have all intervened, and all of these MAGA voices who know the truth about Trump on January 6, have abandoned the truth and abandoned democracy." "They made their choice - now the rest of us, Democrats, Independents, and mainstream Republicans, have to make our choice. I know mine, and I believe I know America's," Biden emphasised. Moreover, the insurrection was also a focus of the Biden campaign's first 2024 campaign ad, according to CNN.

"There's something dangerous happening in America," Biden said in his ad, interspersed with images from the 2018 Unite the Right rally of white supremacists; images of Trump supporters battling police officers on January 6; and images of a noose set up outside the Capitol. "There's an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs in our democracy," he added. "All of us are being asked right now: 'What will we do to maintain our democracy?'"

Biden said, adding that "our children and grandchildren will hold us responsible." Reportedly, in intimate and small settings, Biden has all but conceded that he is running only to defeat Trump, according to CNN. Notably, last month, Biden told his supporters at a fundraiser that he was not sure he would be running again if Trump were not seeking a second term.

Trump, meanwhile, hasn't been shy about his intention to seek retribution against his political opponents if he again wins the presidency, with recent messaging saying he would be a dictator on Day 1 and vowing to "root out ... radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country" - reminiscent of history's most infamous authoritarians, reported CNN.

Moreover, Trump was scheduled to hold two events in Iowa later Friday afternoon. In a post to Truth Social, he said Biden, whom he called a "moron," was the real threat to democracy.