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Former President Joe Biden broke his silence on what he described as "dark days" under President Donald Trump, urging Americans to stay optimistic on what he called attacks on free speech and the testing of executive power limits.
“Since its founding, America served as a beacon for the most powerful idea ever in government in the history of the world,” Biden said while receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Edward M. Kennedy Institute Sunday (October 26) night, his first public speaking event since completing a round of radiation therapy for prostate cancer, via ABC News. “The idea is stronger than any army. We’re more powerful than a dictator.”
Biden said America depends on a presidency with limiting power, a working Congress and fair judiciary, acknowledging that the U.S. is currently facing its second-longest shutdown on record.
“Friends, I can’t sugar coat any of this. These are dark days,” Biden said before predicting the nation would “find our true compass again” and "emerge as we always have — stronger, wiser and more resilient, more just, so long as we keep the faith.”
The former president also credited comedians and protesters targeted by Trump for standing their ground against treats made by his administration, as well as free speech.
“The late night hosts continue to shine a light on free speech knowing their careers are on the line,” Biden said, while going on to credit Republican officials who openly opposed the Trump administration.
“America is not a fairy tale,” he added. “For 250 years, it’s been a constant push and pull, an existential struggle between peril and possibility.”