By Armin Sijamić
Former US President Joseph Biden briefly disappeared from public life after the end of his term, which is not surprising considering his age and health condition. Nevertheless, late last week, he gave another speech and questioned the effects of President Donald Trump.
After leaving the White House, Biden did not stand out much in public. He gave a speech in April, spoke about his health in May after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, and appeared at the National Bar Association in Chicago on the last day of last month.
In his April address, he spoke about Trump by name, criticizing him. He also criticized Trump last week, although he did not mention him by name in his twenty-minute address.
Democracy and Trump
Biden's April speech, also in Chicago, was unusual because it came just three months after the end of his term. The former president's quick public appearance and address on important and current topics is unusual. Biden then criticized Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. He accused them of "attacking with an axe" the social security of Americans, after Musk began cutting government spending.
The Trump administration's response was in its own style. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said, with no respect for her country's former president: "I'm surprised he's speaking in the evening. I thought it was bedtime for him much earlier."
In that speech, Biden touched upon an indispensable topic for Democrats – the state of democracy and state institutions under Trump. "No one is king," Biden declared then, targeting Trump's political moves that Democrats see as a threat to the American republic. Even earlier, Biden had said that Trump, with the help of big capital, could destroy American democracy.
In his speech last week, Biden saw a continuation of the trends he spoke about in April and over the last eight years. The country is facing "dark days" under Trump, and the executive branch "seems to be doing everything it can to dismantle the Constitution," Biden said. "In my opinion, we are at such a moment in American history, reflected in every harsh executive action, every rollback of fundamental freedoms, every erosion of long-standing, established precedents."
According to Biden, Trump is not alone in attacking American institutions; he has help from the legislative and judicial branches of the US.
"Oh, get ready, folks, this is just the beginning," the former president warned.
Trump and the Opposition
Even after this speech by Biden, insults against the former president came from the current administration. The reaction from Trump's people clearly shows that they do not want to discuss with Biden or his Democrats. For Trump's people, they are the culprits for everything happening in the United States and the world, and the current president is the only one who can fix it.
But more important than these Trump reactions is the fact that Trump's style of politics is being opposed even within his Republican Party, while the Democratic opposition is finding it increasingly difficult to counter his narrative. Democrats simply have no ideas on how to oppose a politician who turns every move into a show and who gains concessions even from American friends after threatening them.
The MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement, which has faithfully stood behind Trump, is also resisting him. These days, Trump and MAGA are in conflict over Jeffrey Epstein, as the president does not want to fulfill his pre-election promise and release all documents related to this case.
Trump does not give up on his style, even when it threatens conflict within the United States or with allies around the world. In recent months, he has shown that he does not shy away from using force when his positions clash with those of other elected officials.
What Are State Institutions For?
Some question whether American institutions can survive as independent entities after Trump's term. This particularly applies to the judiciary, which Trump placed under a kind of pressure after claiming for months that he was a victim of their persecution. Biden is not alone in this.
Biden's insistence that this is just the beginning of Trump's attack on institutions is supported by what the current president is doing. The numerous executive orders he has issued, bypassing legislative bodies, indicate that Trump wants to impose his will. Biden and other US presidents have not so frequently resorted to this tool when it comes to issues that divide Americans.
Those who support Trump will argue in his defense that Biden is not the best person to offer such criticism, as he "preventively" pardoned members of his own family in criminal cases in his final days in the White House. Those who do not support Trump will say that the current president pardoned 1,500 people convicted of storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
These two examples precisely illustrate the crisis in American institutions, as presidents use them for personal vendettas. Such things did not happen as frequently in the United States just a decade ago. This is another link between Biden and Trump, whose strategic goals are not significantly different, but their methods of work are.
Trump's methods are significantly different from Biden's, even in the messages he sends. Trump claims that he will bring prosperity to the poor with a group of billionaires, while Biden claimed that the strength of the American system lies in the middle class.
And therein lies one of the keys to the ongoing struggle in the United States. Trump believes that those in power should be given a free hand to lead the country, while some of his opponents say that strong institutions are a guarantee that the American republic will not sink into autocracy. In this struggle, which according to Biden is currently favoring Trump, a different system could emerge, which in both cases requires some changes.
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