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The White House’s decision to flank President Biden with US Marines as he delivered an alarming speech about the authoritarian impulses of former President Donald Trump and his supporters has reignited the debate over what is an appropriate use of the military.
Biden, speaking at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on Thursday night, said that democracy and equality are under assault and that he wanted to “speak as clearly as possible to the nation” about the threats against them. Trump and his allies represent a form of extremism that “threatens the very foundations of our republic,” Biden said, adding that while “mainstream” Republicans respect the rule of law, the former president does not it does.
Biden delivered his speech in front of the building where the US Constitution was written, while two marines in blue stood in the background. Red light bathed the building and the marines.
Biden warns that the US faces a powerful threat from anti-democratic forces
Presidents have long used US troops and military hardware when addressing the American people. But military officials have often tried to limit how people in uniform are thrust into the political spotlight, clinging to the belief that the military is an institution that protects all Americans regardless of affiliation. politics.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, acknowledged that the administration made a conscious decision to include the Marines for symbolism.
“The president delivered an important speech last night about our democracy and our values, values that our men and women in uniform fight every day to protect,” the official said in a statement. “The Marines’ presence at the speech was intended to demonstrate the deep and abiding respect the president has for his service to those ideals and the unique role our independent military plays in defending our democracy, regardless of party affiliation. in power”.
For some scholars who study civil and military affairs, using the Marines as a backdrop for the speech was unwise.
Peter Feaver, a professor at Duke University, said that while presidents are political actors, “they have to be careful not to put the military in the frame when they engage in partisan political acts.”
“In this case, the choice to literally keep Marine guards in the frame was unfortunate,” said Feaver, who has expressed concern about how Trump has politicized the military on numerous occasions. “It can even have the effect of distracting from the message when people debate the optics rather than the substance of the president’s speech.”
Lindsay Cohn, who studies civil and military affairs at the Naval War College, said Biden being framed by Marines during the speech “wasn’t a crisis, but it could and should have been avoided.”
Cohn said he can see an argument that Biden was making a necessary, nonpartisan speech in which he pointed out that not all Republicans are a threat. But he added that the Biden administration needs to be “extremely sensitive and cautious about the optics of trying to strengthen some of the rules” that the Trump administration weakened.
Addressing US troops at the Pentagon in February 2020 at the start of his administration, Biden said he would never disrespect them and would “never politicize the work that you do”.
Biden’s critics, including many who remained silent during Trump’s battles with the Pentagon, pounced on the Marines’ use.
“The only thing worse than Biden’s speech tearing his fellow citizens apart is messing with our flag and the Marines to do it,” tweeted Rep. Darrell Issa (R.-Calif.).
The only thing worse than Biden’s speech about his fellow citizens is messing with our flag and the Marines to do it.
— Rep. Darrell Issa (@repdarrellissa) September 2, 2022
James Hutton, a Veterans Affairs official during the Trump administration, tweeted that Biden “used the Marines as props for his divisive and clearly political speech.”
President Biden used the US Marines as a prop for his divisive and clearly political speech. Despicable conduct in attacking more than half of Americans. pic.twitter.com/7QHObYTlaZ
— James Hutton (@JEHutton) September 2, 2022
Biden supporters responded by pointing to the many ways Trump undermined the nonpartisan nature of the military.
In June 2020, he sought for days to use active-duty US troops to quell protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, alarming senior Pentagon officials who saw his plans as an abuse of power. At the height of the crisis, federal forces pushed protesters from Lafayette Square outside the White House before Trump led other senior US officials to a nearby church for a photo op. Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, later apologized for briefly meeting the president outside the White House, saying his presence at the time “created the perception of the military being involved in politics internal”.
Early in his administration, Trump traveled to the Pentagon and signed executive actions that included an order aimed at severely curbing immigration from several Muslim-majority countries. He did so in the Pentagon’s “Hall of Heroes,” a room dedicated to military Medal of Honor winners.