Former President Joe Biden called these \u201cdark days\u201d as he urged Americans to stay optimistic and not to check out in response to what he says are attacks on free speech and tests on the limits of executive power by President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince its founding, America served as a beacon for the most powerful idea ever in government in the history of the world,\u201d Biden said. \u201cThe idea is stronger than any army. We\u2019re more powerful than a dictator.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden, 82, speaking publicly for the first time since completing a round of radiation therapy for an aggressive form of prostate cancer, addressed an audience in Boston on Sunday night after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Edward M. Kennedy Institute.<\/p>\n
He said America depends on a presidency with limited power, a functioning Congress and an autonomous judiciary. With the federal government facing its second-longest shutdown on record, Trump has used the funding laps as way to exercise new command over the government.<\/p>\n
\u201cFriends, I can\u2019t sugar coat any of this. These are dark days\u201d Biden said before predicting the country would \u201cfind our true compass again\u201d and \u201cemerge as we always have \u2014 stronger, wiser and more resilient, more just, so long as we keep the faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden listed examples of people who are standing their ground against threats from the current administration, citing the example of federal employees who resign in protest, and universities and comedians that have been targeted by Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe late night hosts continue to shine a light on free speech knowing their careers are on the line,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Biden also shouted out elected Republican officials who vote or openly go against the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerica is not a fairy tale,\u201d he said. \u201cFor 250 years, it\u2019s been a constant push and pull, an existential struggle between peril and possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
He finished the speech by telling people to \u201cget back up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Democrat left office in January after serving one term in the White House. Biden dropped his bid for reelection after facing pressure following a disastrous debate against Trump and concerns about his age, health and mental fitness. Vice President Kamala Harris launched her bid right after, but lost to Trump last November.<\/p>\n
In May, Biden\u2019s post presidential office announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and that it had spread to his bones.<\/p>\n
Prostate cancers are graded for aggressiveness using what is known as a Gleason score. The scores range from 6 to 10, with 8, 9 and 10 prostate cancers behaving more aggressively. Biden\u2019s office said his score was 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former President Joe Biden called these \u201cdark days\u201d as he urged Americans to stay optimistic and not to check out in response to what he says are attacks on free speech and tests on the limits of executive power by President Donald Trump. \u201cSince its founding, America served as a beacon for the most powerful …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":88649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88639"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88651,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88639\/revisions\/88651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}