'He looked in command': George W. Bush speechwriter praises Biden D-Day speech

06 June 2024

A veteran speechwriter who worked in former President George W. Bush's White House recently admitted on Fox News that President Joe Biden's speech on the 80th anniversary of D-Day was memorable and well-done.

During a Thursday interview with Fox & Friends, Bill McGurn — who was the chief speechwriter for the 43rd president of the United States between 2006 and 2008 — praised Biden's address in Europe to commemorate the United States storming the beaches of Normandy, France in World War II. McGurn compared Biden's D-Day speech to other memorable addresses, like those delivered by Ronald Reagan on the 40th anniversary of D-Day in 1984 and by Bill Clinton on the 50th anniversary.

"Forty years later, Reagan is still a tough act to follow. I think Joe Biden did pretty well on the speech," McGurn said. "No major stumbles. He looked in command, he wasn't shouting. I think he delivered it very well. I think the words are fine, it was a well-written speech, it hung together."

Biden flew to France to commemorate the historic entry of American troops into World War II's French theater 80 years ago, and was joined by French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"The men who fought here became heroes, not because they were the strongest our toughest or fiercest, although they were, but because they were given an audacious mission, knowing, every one of them knew, the probability of dying was real," Biden said. "But they did it anyway. They knew, beyond any doubt, there are things that are worth fighting and dying for. Freedom is worth it. Democracy is worth it. America is worth it. The world is worth it. Then, now and always."

He then compared the Roosevelt administration's efforts to stop Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's conquest of Western Europe to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) efforts to halt Russian President Vladimir Putin's incursion into Eastern Europe. He warned that global democracy was "more at risk now than at any point since World War II."

"We cannot surrender to the bullies, it is simply unthinkable. If we do, freedom will be subjugated, all Europe will be threatened," Biden said, while calling Putin a "tyrant intent on domination."

The storming of Normandy, which was given the codename "Operation Overlord," was a massive undertaking involving approximately 7,000 ships and more than 130,000 troops from the U.S., Great Britain and the Allied forces. On D-Day alone, more than 4,400 Allied troops were killed with over 5,000 wounded, including 2,500 Americans.

In the subsequent Battle of Normandy, 73,000 Allied troops were killed in battle. 153,000 more were wounded. And aside from combatants, approximately 20,000 French civilians were also killed as a result of the battle.

"It was estimated that 80% of them would be killed within hours," Biden said of Allied troops on D-Day. "That was the estimate. But they were brave. They were resolute."

In 2018, former President Donald Trump and former First Lady Melania Trump famously opted out of a ceremony to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day (the end of World War I), citing bad weather. He instead sent a contingent of officials including his then-chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly (ret.), and Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, who was the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Watch video of McGurn's remarks on Fox & Friends below, or by clicking this link.

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