On Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden visited the Valley Forge National Park to deliver a strongly-worded rebuke of President Donald Trump’s attempts to delegitimize the 2020 election results and overturn the will of the people.
In a speech delivered from the Freedom Bell Pavilion at the park’s entrance, Biden warned that democracy in the United States was under attack and reminded the assembled members of the press—and the nation—of the importance of preserving our electoral system.
Biden began his speech by noting the historical significance of Valley Forge. He reminded the audience that it was there that George Washington and his troops endured nearly two months of “undefined suffering” to protect the fledgling nation they had fought to create. Reflecting on this, Biden stressed that the American people and the world cannot take for granted the stability of democracy, and must constantly protect it from those seeking to neuter the power of the vote.
He then went on to sharply condemn President Trump’s efforts—which have included allegations of voter fraud, the deployment of a band of lawyers to challenge the results, and an attack on the reliability of the mail-in voting system—as an “egregious assault on our democracy.”
Biden warned that if the US did not remain vigilant in its defense of democracy, the same type of authoritarianism seen in Russia, Saudi Arabia, and other states around the world could emerge. He cited past attempts by dictators to undo elections in other countries and said that this must not be seen as an acceptable practice in America.
He also used the opportunity to call out the “crickets of non-action” from Republican leadership within the Senate and House of Representatives over President Trump’s blatant attempts to delegitimize the election.
Finally, Biden called on the American people to remain united and trust in the system of checks and balances that is meant to protect our democracy. He asserted that we must trust in our leaders and the process of democracy itself, and said that the American people have been given a mandate to protect it.
At the conclusion of the speech, the President-elect turned to salute the Assembly Duportail Tower and receive a standing ovation from those in attendance. Biden’s speech made clear the threat that President Trump’s actions and rhetoric pose to the American democratic system, and highlighted the importance of standing up for the principles that our nation was founded upon.
