President Biden on Monday sought to link the aftermath of the Civil War to the aftermath of the 2020 election, warning that former President Donald Trump would put truth and fundamental freedoms at risk if he was re-elected to the White House.
Biden drew comparisons to the Civil War, saying the defeated Confederates could not accept defeat and accepted the “lost cause” that the war was about states' rights, not slavery. Ta. That lie, he argued, led to Jim Crow laws that disenfranchised and discriminated against black people.
“We are now living in the era of a second lost cause,” Biden said. “Once again, there are people in this country willing to lie about their losses. This lie, if allowed, will once again do terrible harm to this country. This time, the lie is about the 2020 election. Thing.”
His comments came days after Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said in late December that the cause of the Civil War was the government's role. Former President Trump, a front-runner in the Republican primary, has suggested in recent days that the Civil War may have been negotiable.
“For those who don't know, let me be clear: the cause of the Civil War was slavery. There is no negotiation on that,” Biden said Monday.
The president spoke at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, where a white supremacist gunman killed nine people, all of them black. After the shooting, the South Carolina General Assembly voted to remove the Confederate flag from the state Capitol grounds.
“Truth is under attack in America,” Biden warned.
“As a result, so too will our freedoms, our democracy, and our very country, because without truth there is no light. Without light, there is no way out of this darkness,” Biden said. .
It was Biden's second campaign speech in recent days, and he sought to clarify the stakes of the 2024 election, presenting it as a fight to protect democracy and fundamental rights rather than a matter of policy. I'm trying to frame it.
His speech was briefly interrupted by protesters calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where thousands of Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli military operation carried out in response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas.
The president rattled off a list of accomplishments during his administration, including legislation to lower prescription drug prices, executive orders to increase police accountability and efforts to curb gun violence.
He directly criticized Trump, calling him a “loser” and criticizing Trump's recent comments in which he said communities “have to move on” in the wake of the Iowa school shooting.
He warned that Trump's MAGA Republicans are trying to “steal history” by rewriting the events of January 6, 2021, as “peaceful protests.”
“The lies that led to January 6 are part of a broader attack on truth in America today that we have all seen before,” Biden said.
“The same movement that stormed the Capitol on January 6th,” Biden continued, “is not just trying to rewrite history, it's trying to erase our history and our future.” “Ban books, deny people the right to vote and vote, and destroy diversity, equality, and inclusion across America.”
South Carolina, which promoted Biden as the Democratic nominee in 2020, will hold its first official Democratic primary next month due to a change in the primary election schedule. Mr. Biden faces a long-running primary challenge from Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and Rep. Marianne Williamson.
While Biden is expected to breeze through the primaries, polls show he will face a tougher test in the general election. Numerous recent polls show him trailing Trump in key battleground states.New York Times/Siena College poll A poll released in December found Biden trailing Trump among registered voters, but leading the former president among likely voters in 2024.
Monday's speech was a follow-up to a speech Biden gave near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, on Friday, which focused on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. In that speech, Biden repeatedly directly accused President Trump of being a threat to democracy, whose failure to acknowledge his defeat in the 2020 election led to the violence that day.
These remarks appear to have had the desired effect in mobilizing Biden's core supporters, with his campaign raising more than $1 million in online donations alone in the 24 hours following the speech.
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