President Joe Biden spoke at a memorial for the lives lost on 9/11 on Sunday, urging Americans to look toward the future and act to defend Democracy.
“Because on this day it is not about the past, it is about the future,” he said. “We have an obligation, a duty, a responsibility, to defend preserve and protect our democracy.”
The president spoke about the lessons of 9/11 during a ceremony at the Pentagon memorial, where he returned to a common theme of his presidency about democracy in America being under attack.
He said the terrorists on 9/11 tried to “bury” American democracy, “in the burning fire and smoking ash” but that it ultimately prevailed.
Biden urged Americans to “stand together and defend with all our hearts that which makes us unique in this world, our democracy” asserting that the terrorists on 9/11 “most hoped to destroy” it.
U.S. President Joe Biden, center left, attends a wreath laying ceremony at the Pentagon to honor and remember the victims of the September 11th terror attack in Arlington, Virginia, US, on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. ( Leigh Vogel/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“That takes a commitment upon the part of all of us. Dedication, hard work, every day. For always remember that American democracy depends on the habits and heart of We the People,” he said.
Biden’s remarks about defending Democracy occurred ten days after he accused former President Donald Trump and his supporters of being a “violent” and “extreme” “threat” to American democracy.
He recalled the “true sense of national unity” that followed the terrorist attacks on the United States, calling it “the greatest lesson of 9/11.”
The president also spoke about the “worst impulses” of Americans, such as racism after the United States was attacked by radical Islamic terrorists.
Firefighters salute each other outside the FDNY Engine 10, Ladder 10 fire station near the commemoration ceremony on the 21st anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022 in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
“In the moment of great unity we also had to face down the worst impulses, fear, violence, recrimination directed against Muslim Americans as well as Americans of Middle Eastern and south Asian heritage,” he said.
The president also alluded to Queen Elizabeth II’s death during his speech, recalling a message she sent to the American people after the attacks.
“I remember a message sent to the American people from Queen Elizabeth … she poignantly reminded us that ‘Grief is the price we pay for love,'” he recalled.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.