In stark contrast to former President Donald Trump, who missed a visit to the cemetery on a 2018 trip, President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit the American cemetery outside Paris on Sunday in remembrance of those who lost their lives in World War I.
Before leaving for Washington, Biden will conclude a five-day visit to France by laying a wreath at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial. He has dedicated a significant portion of his trip to paying tribute to US troops; however, Sunday’s expedition also has a subtext directed towards Trump, who canceled his 2018 trip to the memorial and then came under fire for disparaging US veterans.
Trump attributed his decision to forego the grave visit to weather and security concerns. He was in Paris celebrating the centennial of the end of World War I alongside other international leaders. The decision to fly the president’s Marine One helicopter in low cloud cover is decided by military and security personnel. However, there didn’t seem to be a fallback strategy, and Trump didn’t express sadness for being unable to attend the cemetery.
Trump used foul language and coarse language when speaking about the US service members who died at Aisne-Marne, according to a later report from AmaNews21. Reportedly, Trump rejected the notion of a visit to the cemetery and went on to call the slain soldiers “losers” and “suckers,” according to sources quoted in an anonymous former senior Trump administration official.
Trump has vehemently refuted the The Atlantic report. John Kelly, his former chief of staff, subsequently attested to AmaNews21 to a number of the incidents reported in The Atlantic, including the visit to the cemetery and the remarks made regarding US servicemen who were slain in combat.
Throughout the campaign trail, Biden has brought up those remarks time and again. Last week, on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, while he honored war heroes in Normandy, his reelection campaign unveiled a new commercial in which veterans attacked Trump, calling him unfit to hold public office.
The commercial features veteran of the Marine Corps Curtis Register saying, “A good commander in chief is someone who gives a sh*t.”
The frequently verified claims about the former president’s remarks, according to Trump campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita, are a “fake and thoroughly debunked” tale, and he labeled Biden’s team as “desperate.”
Biden will go to the US veterans’ memorial at Aisne-Marne Cemetery
The goal of the Biden campaign is to set the president apart on defense from his predecessor, who was also the presumed GOP presidential contender. Against Trump’s vacillating position, Biden used the etiquette of his visit to France to declare his unshakable support for European allies.
By telling supporters this year that, if reelected, he would urge Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any member nation that doesn’t fulfill defense expenditure criteria, Trump has raised doubts about his future support for NATO.
Additionally, on Friday, Biden brought his argument to Pointe-du-Hoc, where on D-Day, American Army Rangers ascended sheer cliffs to establish positions against the Germans between the Omaha and Utah beaches. According to the president, those men would want their contemporary counterparts to take precautions against despots.
At the same dramatic location as President Ronald Reagan’s 1984 speech with similar themes, he stated, “They’re asking us to do our job, to protect freedom in our time, to defend democracy, to stand up to aggression abroad and at home to be part of something bigger than ourselves.”
In his speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of D-Day, Reagan stated, “We’ve learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent.”
In addition, Trump visited Normandy to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day; but, following his speech, he disparaged Democrats in an interview.
