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Extremism on both sides is tearing our country apart. Mr. Trump fans the flames of extremism, division, and chaos, while President Biden seeks to find common ground and unify our nation, making us stronger together and thus more free.
President Biden has defended democracy, the rule of law, and freedom both here and abroad. He stands at the true center of our nation, rejecting the extremism of both sides, bringing people together for the good of our country, holding fast to the truth that we are one nation under God, ever striving to bring liberty and justice for all.
In stark contrast, Mr. Trump has placed himself at the center of a chaotic vortex of divisiveness that is pushing our nation to extremes not seen since the run up to the Civil War. Mr. Trump is, in fact, the greatest threat one person has posed to our country in our nation’s history.
Mr. Trump thrives on chaos that puts him at the center of attention, regardless of the consequences for others and our nation.
Mr. Trump:
Called for the “termination” of the Constitution so that he can be put back into power.
Is making plans to invoke the Insurrection Act on day one so he can employ the military against peaceful protests in violation of the First Amendment.
Said he will send troops into Democratic cities.
Undermines the rule of law as he brazenly flouts the laws of our nation, dares anyone to hold him accountable and warns that there will be “bedlam in the country” if they try, and paints himself as the victim of politics — which gives him an excuse to go after his political opponents once back in power.
Said he could ‘weaponize’ the Justice Department and the FBI against President Biden.
Summoned his supporters to Washington on January 6, 2021, told them to “fight like hell,” and did nothing for hours as the violent insurrection at the Capitol tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, with his followers chanting “Hang Mike Pence.”
Said that presidents must be given “full and total immunity” and cannot be prosecuted for acts that “cross the line”; in other words, as President he was — and would be — above the law.
Said he will pardon the insurrectionists, whom he calls “hostages” and “patriots.”
If democracy or the rule of law gets in his way, Trump will undermine them, even destroy them, because it’s all about him.
This is clear from his argument that he enjoys “presidential immunity” from any crimes he may have committed related to the Jan. 6 Insurrection. As the unanimous 3-Judge ruling of the DC Appeals Court stated:
It would be a striking paradox if the President, who alone is vested with the constitutional duty to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,’ were the sole officer capable of defying those laws with impunity. … We cannot accept former president Trump’s claim that a President has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power — the recognition and implementation of election results. … At bottom, former president Trump’s stance would collapse our system of separated powers by placing the President beyond the reach of all three Branches. We cannot accept that the office of the Presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter. (pp, 36-37, 40)
President Biden understands the profound threat Mr. Trump represents to our country and the Constitution. That is why he is running to serve again, to fulfill the presidential oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States” — and us — from Mr. Trump’s authoritarian lawlessness. Mr. Trump has broken the presidential oath, and he will do so again and again if reelected.
In his speech at Valley Forge to launch his reelection campaign President Biden made the stakes of this election quite clear:
Whether democracy is still America’s sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time. And it’s what the 2024 election is all about. The choice is clear. Donald Trump’s campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future. He’s willing to sacrifice our democracy [to] put himself in power.
Our campaign is different. For me and Kamala, our campaign is about America. It’s about you. It’s about every age and background that occupy this country. It’s about the future we’re going to continue to build together. And our campaign is about preserving and strengthening our American democracy. …
Today, I make this sacred pledge to you: The defense, protection and preservation of American democracy will remain, as it has been, the central cause of my presidency. America, as we begin this election year, we must be clear: Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot. …
This is the first national election since [the] January sixth insurrection placed a dagger at the throat of American democracy. Since that moment. We all know who Donald Trump is. The question we have to answer is who are we? That’s what’s at stake. Who are we? In the year ahead, as you talk to your family and friends, cast your ballots, the power is in your hands. After all we’ve been through in our history, from independence to civil war to two world wars to a pandemic to insurrection, I refuse to believe that in 2024 we Americans will choose to walk away from what’s made us the greatest nation in the history of the world.
Freedom, liberty. Democracy is still a sacred cause, and there’s no country in the world better positioned to lead the world than America.
When it comes down to it, it’s pretty simple.
With Mr. Trump, it’s all about him.
With President Biden, it’s all about us.
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