Former President Joe Biden called these “dark days” as he urged Americans to remain optimistic and not back down in response to what he says are attacks on free speech and tests of the limits of executive power by President Donald Trump.
“Since its founding, America has served as a beacon for the most powerful government idea in the history of the world,” Biden said. “The idea is stronger than any army. We are stronger than any dictator.”
Biden, 82, spoke publicly for the first time since completing a round of radiation treatment for an aggressive form of prostate cancer, addressing an audience in Boston on Sunday evening after receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Edward M. Kennedy Institute.
He said that America depends on a presidency with limited powers, an effective Congress, and an independent judiciary. With the federal government facing its second-longest shutdown on record, Trump used the funding periods as a way to exert new leadership over the government.
“Friends, I can’t take any of this. These are dark days,” Biden said, before predicting that the country would “find our true compass again” and “emerge as we always have been — stronger, wiser, more resilient, and more just, as long as we keep the faith.”
Biden listed examples of people standing up to the current administration’s threats, citing the example of federal employees who resigned in protest, and universities and comedians who were targeted by Trump.
“Late night hosts continue to highlight freedom of expression knowing their careers are on the line,” he said.
Biden also called out Republican elected officials who vote for or openly oppose the Trump administration.
He added: “America is not a fairy tale.” “For 250 years, there has been a constant push and pull, an existential struggle between danger and possibility.”
He ended his speech by asking people to “rise again.”
The Democrat left office in January after serving one term in the White House. Biden abandoned his re-election bid after facing pressure following a disastrous debate against Trump and concerns about his age, health and mental fitness. Vice President Kamala Harris launched her bid immediately afterward, but lost to Trump last November.
In May, Biden’s post-presidential office announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
Prostate cancers are graded in terms of aggressiveness using what is known as the Gleason score. Scores range from 6 to 10, with 8, 9 and 10 prostate cancers behaving more aggressively. Biden’s office said his score was 9.
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