Biden speaks at Pointe du Hoc on D-Day’s 80th anniversary

(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden is visiting France on Friday and delivering a speech at Pointe du Hoc to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

Biden’s remarks at U.S. Ranger Monument at Pointe du Hoc, a legendary spot along the coast where Army Rangers scaled cliffs during the D-Day invasion, come a day after he spoke at Normandy.

“Today as I look out at this battlefield,and all the bunkers and bomb craters that still surround it, one thought comes to mind,” Biden said Friday. “My God. My God. How did they do it? How were these Americans willing to risk everything, dare everything and give everything?”

Speaking about the “ghosts of Pointe Du Hoc,” Biden said they were “asking us to do our job: to protect freedom in our time, to defend democracy, to stand up aggression abroad and at home, to be part of something bigger than ourselves.”

“We’re the fortunate heirs of the legacy of these heroes — those who scaled the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc,” Biden said. “We must also be the keepers of their mission … the bearers of the flame of freedom they kept burning bright.”

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The site’s prominence in American folklore was partly established by former President Ronald Reagan, who delivered one of his most famous speeches in 1984.

Reagan’s words timelessly celebrated freedom and honored sacrifice and remain poignant and memorable even after four decades.

‘Timeless principles’

The White House says it is a speech about “timeless principles.”

“The Pointe du Hoc speech is a speech about, in his view, timeless principles — principles that have served as the foundation of American security and American democracy for generations,” Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, told reporters.

Biden hopes to use the tale of the Rangers’ victory to advance his own vision for the country’s global role. The Democratic president is wrestling with two grueling wars: One between Russia and Ukraine in Europe, the other between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East, while also trying to reorient U.S. foreign policy to confront China’s rising power.

Although overseas speeches are typically nonpartisan, Biden’s rhetoric dovetails with his reelection message, which has portrayed Donald Trump as a threat to American values and democracy. The Republican ex-president, who is seeking another term in the White House, has continued to lie about his 2020 election loss and threatened to dismantle U.S. commitments overseas.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.