Joe Biden has decried “dark days” for the US under Donald Trump’s hardline presidency as he urged Americans to stay optimistic and not to “check out” from the way White House politics under his successor is affecting the nation.
The former US president was speaking publicly for the first time since completing a round of radiation therapy for an aggressive form of prostate cancer, in a speech on Sunday night that addressed Trump’s agenda.
Biden spoke of attacks on free speech and Trump’s tests on the limits of executive power.
“Since its founding, America served as a beacon for the most powerful idea ever in government in the history of the world,” Biden said. “The idea is stronger than any army. We’re more powerful than any dictator.”
The former Democratic president, 82, addressed an audience in Boston after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Edward M Kennedy Institute.
He said the US depended on a presidency with limited power, a functioning US Congress and an autonomous judiciary, as the three co-equal branches of government. With the federal government facing one of the longest shutdowns on record, Trump has used the funding lapse as a way to exercise new command over the government.
“Friends, I can’t sugarcoat any of this. These are dark days,” Biden said before predicting the country 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.”
Biden listed examples of people who were standing their ground against threats from the current administration, citing the example of federal employees who resign in protest, and universities and comedians that have been targeted by Trump.
“The late-night hosts continue to shine a light on free speech knowing their careers are on the line,” he said.
Biden also gave shout-outs for any elected Republican officials who vote or openly go against the Trump administration.
“America is not a fairytale,” he said. “For 250 years, it’s been a constant push and pull, an existential struggle between peril and possibility.”
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He finished the speech by telling people to “get back up”.
The Democrat left office in January after serving one term in the White House. Biden dropped his bid for re-election after facing pressure after a disastrous debate against Trump and concerns about his age, health and mental fitness. Former US vice-president Kamala Harris launched her bid right after, but lost to Trump last November.
In May, Biden’s post presidential office announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and that it had spread to his bones.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
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