Biden is using the anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots as a platform for his reelection campaign to cast it as a fight to defend American democracy – this as polling indicates support for President Trump’s debunked stolen election conspiracy is rising steadily.
Biden will speak at Montgomery County Community College, near where George Washington’s Continental Army spent part of a winter during the Revolutionary War. Due to weather concerns, this event was moved up from Saturday.
Preparations for Biden Speech
Starting his campaign at Valley Forge – where George Washington led his Continental Army through an intense winter battle during the Revolutionary War some 250 years ago – will set up 2024 as a battle over democracy’s future. Biden advisers stated on Thursday that their candidate would depict Donald Trump as an imminent threat to fundamental freedoms and that his second term may prove disastrous for our republic’s foundations.
As bad weather is forecasted on Saturday – the actual anniversary of the Capitol Insurrection – the speech has been moved up one day to Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, about 10 miles from Valley Forge National Historical Park.
Biden’s choice of venue underscores his dedication to Pennsylvania, an essential swing state. As part of his campaign for president, he plans to travel extensively across Pennsylvania before visiting Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina where nine people were fatally shot by a white supremacist gunman last June.
Weather
Biden will use his speech at Valley Forge – where George Washington’s Continental Army spent an arduous winter nearly 250 years ago during the Revolutionary War – to frame the 2024 presidential election as an epic fight over American democracy. According to reports gathered on Jan 2, Biden will also emphasize a visit he made last September to Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston where an anti-Black white supremacist killed nine Black parishioners – in his bid to cast President Trump as an immediate danger against American freedoms.
Pennsylvania’s bluest suburban county as the location for his inaugural event of 2017 is a symbol of Biden’s election bid, with his campaign viewing it as a pivotal swing state that could determine his fate in November’s general election. Furthermore, Biden has made no secret of his desire to frame this campaign around “the soul of America” versus threats to democracy; according to one national poll 53% of Americans blame Donald Trump for January 6’s riot when his supporters overran Congress.
Politics
Biden’s selection of Valley Forge — a community college which served as George Washington’s Continental Army winter headquarters between 1777 and 1778 — indicates his intention of framing this year’s presidential election as one involving democracy. A major theme in his campaign, he hopes to highlight Trump’s repeated claims that his 2020 win was fraudulently secured; according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll this week, 34 percent of American falsely believe such claims.
Biden aides believe a speech commemorating the anniversary of the Capitol riot is an effective way to underscore how much is at stake in this election and highlight how Donald Trump, likely GOP nominee and potential Presidential candidate, has increased rhetoric that threatens democracy and freedoms. They expect their speech – originally planned for Saturday but changed due to predicted snowy weather – will motivate voters by outlining exactly what a second Trump term might entail.
History
Biden will deliver his speech — originally planned for Saturday but moved due to projected poor weather — today in Philadelphia and is expected to portray former President Donald Trump as an existential threat to democracy. Biden aides plan on making the case that running against someone like Trump who faces 91 criminal charges isn’t just about competing governing philosophies but whether democracy remains worth fighting for.
Biden chose a community college near Valley Forge National Historical Park near Blue Bell as his location because Pennsylvania is essential to his reelection campaign and winning it has become a focus of recent weeks – as evidenced by his itinerary.
South Carolina will host the first sanctioned Democratic primary of 2024 and could serve as a strong indicator for Biden going into November’s general election; winning its pivotal swing counties will be key.
