Biden blasts Trump, invokes pleas for democracy in speech honoring McCain

President Biden hit former President Trump in a Thursday speech dedicated to honoring the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Biden, in making an impassioned plea for democracy and respect for the U.S. Constitution, also called on Americans to ask just what it wants.

“Do we still believe in the Constitution? Do we believe in the basic decency and respect? The whole country should ask themselves … what it wants,” Biden said in remarks in Tempe, Ariz.  

“All of us are being asked right now, what will we do to maintain our democracy? Will we, as John wrote, ‘never quit.’ Will we not hide from history, but make history? Will we put partisanship aside and put country first. I say we must, and we will,” Biden said, invoking McCain, his longtime friend and fellow senator.

The president’s speech, which struck a solemn tone as he called for bipartisanship, highlighted the career of McCain working across the aisle and speaking out against extremists. McCain, who died in 2018, was a fierce critic of Trump — and Trump on the campaign trail in 2016 also disparaged McCain for being a prisoner of war during Vietnam.

“We should all remember, democracies don’t have to die at the end of a riffle. They can die when people are silent, when they fail to stand up and condemn the threats to democracy,” Biden said.

The president hit directly at Trump, who he argued wasn’t guided by the Constitution. He called out past statements from Trump, including him saying a news network was committing treason for not supporting him and for reportedly calling service members “suckers” and “losers” in 2018.

“He called service members suckers and losers. Was John a sucker? Was my son, Beau, who lived next to a burn pit for a year, came home and died. Was he a sucker for volunteering to service his country?” Biden said, referring to his son, Beau Biden, who died of the same brain cancer as McCain.

“It’s not only wrong, it’s un-American. But it never changes. The MAGA extremists across the country have made it clear where they stand,” Biden added.

Biden said it’s a “dangerous notion” that Trump thinks he’s above the law, adding the former president is “not guided by the Constitution or by common service and decency to our fellow Americans, but by vengeance and vindictiveness.”

The president also bashed Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) hold on military promotions in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy.

“One guy in Alabama is holding up the promotion of hundreds of these officials,” Biden said. “Frankly, these extremists have no idea what the hell they’re talking about.”

His pleas for Americans to preserve democracy were a central theme throughout the speech.

“I’m asking you that, regardless whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or an independent, put the preservation of our democracy before everything else. Put our country first,” Biden said.

His focus on the Constitution and bipartisanship Thursday comes as the government appears headed for a weekend shutdown the White House is blaming on House Republicans. The conference has been unable to agree to a plan to fund the government despite a deal this summer that set ceilings on spending for the next fiscal year.

“Democracy is maintained by adhering to the Constitution,” Biden said. “We can’t be situational; we can’t be only there when it’s good for yourself.”

“History’s watching, the world is watching, and most important, our children and grandchildren will hold us responsible,” he added.  “I know we can meet this moment, John knew we can meet this moment.”

The president earlier this month visited a memorial to McCain in Vietnam, where he was held as a prisoner of war, which Biden said made him think about what the country owed McCain.

“I thought about how much America missed John right now, how much America needed John’s courage and foresight and vision,” Biden said.

“John’s one of those patriots that when they die, their voices are never silent. They still speak to us, they target both our hearts and our conscience and they pose the most profound questions— who are we? What do we stand for? What do we believe? What will we be? For John, it was country first.”

Biden also announced on Thursday that funding from the American Rescue Plan, which he signed into law in 2021, will go to construct the McCain Library in partnership with the McCain Institute and Arizona State University.

He was introduced by McCain’s wife Cindy McCain while other members of the McCain family and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) attended the remarks.