President Biden recalled the pain of losing his son and sounded a message of national unity in Memorial Day weekend remarks in Delaware on Sunday.
Reminiscing about Beau Biden, an Army officer who died six years ago, the commander in chief offered words of solace to grieving families.
President Biden speaks at a Memorial Day event at Veterans Memorial Park at the Delaware Memorial Bridge in New Castle, Del., on Sunday. Patrick Semansky/Associated Press
“I know how much the loss hurts. I know the black hole it leaves in the middle of your chest,” Biden said at Veterans Memorial Park near the Delaware Memorial Bridge.
“I promise you, the day will come when the mention of the name of your son or daughter, husband, wife – they will in fact bring not a tear to your eye, but a smile to your lips,” he said. “I hope that day comes sooner than later.”
Beau Biden, who was awarded a Bronze Star for his service in the war in Iraq, died of brain cancer in 2015.
The president linked his praise of veterans with a call for national unity in the wake of the hugely divisive 2020 presidential election, which some Republicans still wrongly contend Biden lost.
“Veterans (are) the reason why we’re able to stand here,” Biden said. “I hope that the nation comes together. We’re not Democrats or Republicans today. We’re Americans. We’re Americans who have given their lives.
“It’s time we remind everybody who we are,” he added.
Biden also looked ahead to next month’s planned summit with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Geneva.
The U.S. leader said he would send the same message he did during a recent phone call with China’s President Xi Jinping.
“I had a long conversation … recently with President Xi making it clear to him that we could do nothing but speak out for human rights around the world, because that’s who we are,” Biden said.
He promised to tell Putin: “We will not – we will not – stand by, let him abuse those rights.”
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