United States – Biden reassured the support of the United States to friends and partners across the globe, including Israel, Ukraine, and the Indo-Pacific, in his speech during the Military Academy graduation ceremony at West Point, New York.
The speech before 1,036 graduating U.S. Army cadets is part of an effort by Biden to explain to the American public the efforts the administration has taken to help servicemembers both currently and in the future. These include a bipartisan law he signed two years ago to assist the exposed veterans in transforming into an easy access system to healthcare in cases of burn pits or other poisonous contents, as reported by Reuters.
Praise for U.S. Armed Forces’ Global Role
Biden said the American soldiers are ‘workaround the clock’ assisting Ukraine in its bid to fight a Russian invasion that has lasted for two years. However, he reiterated that the US would not engage the soldiers in physical combat with Russia.
”We are united in supporting Ukraine, and we will continue to do so,” Biden said to a round of cheers from the audience.
He also mentioned the American involvement in defending the Israelis from Iranian missile strikes and standing by its allies in the Indo-Pacific against China ’ growing military aggression in the region.
“Thanks to the U.S. Armed Forces, we’re doing what only America can do as the indispensable nation, the world’s only superpower,” Biden said.
Presidential Plans for Memorial Day and D-Day Commemorations
On Monday, the president planned on attending Memoriam Day at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. A week later, he will attend several activities in Normandy, France, to commemorate the 80th D-Day landing event.
Biden is likely to focus on the valor of the allied forces in WWII and the pressing dangers to democracy currently.
While serving as the vice president, he had spoken to the graduating class of the cadets at the academy which is located approximately 40miles north of New York City twice but this was the first occasion when he was speaking as the President.
The last president to speak at West Point commencement was recent Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s Republican rival Donald Trump in 2020.
During his campaign, Biden has voiced his allegiance towards Israel amid the destructive war against Hamas starting October 7th that has led to college campuses across the US going up in protest rampages, occasionally ending in violence. Students have resorted to protesting Biden’s actions by delivering speeches during commencement activities at key universities, including Harvard, Duke, and Yale.
Last week, the Democratic president spoke to the graduating class at Morehouse College, the historically Black men institution that saw limited protests.
West Point was established in 1802 by Thomas Jefferson with the purpose of providing formal education to the army officers and has given birth to some of the most famous generals of American history, two of which have also been the presidents of the United States, as reported by Reuters.
Shifting Military Support in Elections
Some of the military community’s former support for Trump has waned.
Self-identified military veterans made up 11 percent of the total voters in the 2016 NBC News exit polls; Clinton won 60 percent of their votes. This particular figure was 60% in 2019 but it reduced to 54% in 2020 as per the NBC News.
Thus, according to the information presented, Biden received 44% of the votes of those who claimed they had had a military service in 2020.