Dividing in Order To Unify

President Joe Biden is appealing to the soul of the nation. He seems to have finally broken away from the ideal of being able to embrace everyone.

It is the place where everything began — for both America and Joe Biden. The sun had just set over the big trees in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and a military ensemble played “Rhapsody in Blue” and “Jesus, My Joy” as the bell rang for the eighth time. The president stepped over a red carpet to the podium. “I speak to you tonight from sacred ground in America,” Biden said to his audience — consisting more of the people at home watching on TV than the few hundred invited guests sitting on folding chairs. A primetime speech on the “continued battle for the soul of the nation” is how the White House announced it, and it was clear even in its first minutes how literally Biden was taking this task.

The president said he had come here to “speak as plainly as I can to the nation about the threats we face, about the power we have in our own hands to meet these threats, and about the incredible future that lies in front of us if we only choose it.” Big words, but they fit this place and setting. It’s almost as if someone tried to turn “democracy” into a set design.

In the brick building behind Biden, which was lit up in the red and blue colors of the American flag on that late summer evening, guarded by two Marines in uniform, the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. And a few feet away from the podium at which Biden was standing, he held his first speech as a candidate to be the Democratic Party nominee in May 2019 — and promised to defeat Donald Trump.

America Must Decide

Therefore, it’s hardly possible to read too much into the decision to hold this event here of all places and now of all times. In two months, members of Congress will run for reelection, and there are only two years until the next presidential election. There is much now to indicate a second round of Biden versus Trump. The president has already signaled that he wants to run again, and so this speech is also a kind of campaign kickoff.

That evening, Biden hardly spoke about the 2024 election. However, his opponent’s name certainly came up with a clarity that he has mostly avoided in recent months. “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” Biden said. “MAGA” is the abbreviation for Make America Great Again and is simultaneously a personal designation and battle cry for Trump supporters.

Biden had already been very clear in recent weeks when he spoke of “semi-fascism” in reference to Trump and his supporters. The reaction of leading Republicans, namely that he is labeling half the country as fascists, does not seem to have caused him to restrain himself. America must decide, he said that evening, whether it wants to dedicate itself to the future or obsess about the past. He declared that Trump and his supporters respect neither the Constitution nor the will of the people, and their extremism “threatens the very foundations of our republic.”

Unity — Biden mostly spoke around this term in this speech. It is the central motif that has accompanied him since that first appearance in Philadelphia in 2019. However, he seems to have broken away from the ideal that he had embodied for basically his entire political career: that it is possible to find such unity across party lines, that an American president should embrace everyone. Because it now seems that the reality is that a significant portion of the population can simply no longer be reached, as will become clear again in the wake of the investigations against Trump and the blatant threats of violence from his supporters. In these times, speaking in favor of universal democratic values like the rule of law is a political message that may be met with approval or rejection.

A President Who Seems To Have Hit His Stride

Biden is no longer trying to find a compromise between the two. And he is indicating that this isn’t an easy lesson for him. “As I stand here tonight, equality and democracy are under assault. We do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise.” In the months of his presidency until now, Biden and his administration have been accused by younger Democrats of not clearly naming the threat of Trumpism and mourning the long-dispelled illusion of bipartisanship.

His reaction to these allegations did not always seem confident at first. On the one hand, he has long called for trust in the institution of the Supreme Court. However, after the overturning of the fundamental right to abortion in June, he called the Supreme Court “extremist,” among other things. A buzzword that runs the risk of creating resignation and apathy, especially in nonvoters and reluctant voters. However, Biden’s party will specifically need those votes to beat Republicans in the midterms and especially in the presidential election.

Now the president seems to have hit his stride, possibly also buoyed by falling gas prices and rising poll numbers. The man standing at the podium didn’t just seem confident in his cause but also his strategy. Dividing in order to unify, you could call it. While Biden is giving up on some, he’s appealing all the more urgently to others. “I will defend our democracy with every fiber of my being,” he promised, “and I’m asking every American to join me.”

Biden Wants To Win Over Those Who Have Not Yet Fallen into the Trump Cult

On the one hand, this is directed at (potential) Democratic voters: I’m fighting for you, and I know what’s important. On the other hand, it’s directed at the increasing number of Republican voters who, according to election analysts, are becoming wearier with each new story about Trump’s potentially illegal actions. Biden is pivoting even more directly to them when he says not every Republican, not even the majority, agree with Trump’s extreme ideology. He’s holding out his hand but not forcing it; November will be the first test to see how many take it.

The reaction from the Republican Party is proof that this is hitting sensitive spots. “Divider-in-Chief” tweeted Rep. Mark Green. His colleague Marco Rubio shared a photo of Biden at the podium in which he looks like a caricature of a demagogue due to the red background lighting and his raised fists. A “blood-red Nazi background,” commented Fox moderator Tucker Carlson, one of Trump’s most important allies.

The framing of the scene that TV viewers got to see seemed indeed much darker and more hostile than the original scene in Philadelphia. It’s unknown whether this was intended. However, it is clear that this speech was not meant to persuade or convince — Biden is beyond that point. Now, for the coming election, he seems to be trying with all his might to mobilize those who have not yet been lost to Trump’s cult. The battle for the soul of the nation — for Biden, it’s now starting all over again.