President Biden concluded his five-day visit to France on Sunday with a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Military Cemetery, where more than 2,200 U.S. soldiers who fought in World War I are buried.
Biden laid a wreath at the gravestone of a U.S. soldier in a solemn ceremony remembering those who sacrificed their lives in service to their country.
Biden stressed the importance of the alliance at his news conference, and while he did not specifically mention Trump, he drew a stark contrast with the former president, who famously missed a visit to the same cemetery in 2018. Trump cited the weather at the time, but subsequent reports revealed that Trump had expressed no interest in visiting the cemetery, located about an hour outside Paris. Calling for fallen soldiers He called them “losers” and “idiots.” Trump denied the reports.
Biden did not respond to questions about Trump, but when asked why he would visit the cemetery, he rejected “the idea that I would come to Normandy and not make a quick trip here and pay my respects.”
“It’s the same story,” Biden said. “America showed up. We showed up to stop the Germans. We showed up to make sure the Germans didn’t win. And just like our allies show up for us, America will show up when we’re needed.”
Biden noted there was a “new consciousness among some” in the United States that favored semi-isolationism.
“That’s not who we are, that’s not who America is,” Biden added.
Biden stressed the importance of maintaining strong alliances to avoid future wars.
“The idea that we’ve been able to avoid getting involved in a major battle in Europe is just not realistic. That’s why it’s so important that we keep our allies, that we continue to strengthen our alliances, that we keep NATO strong, that we continue to do what we’ve been doing since the end of World War II,” Biden said.
