Breitbart News reports that President Joe Biden has just broken another one of his promises, namely, the promise to “never politicize” the U.S. military.
Biden made the promise, according to the outlet, during his first trip as U.S. president to the Pentagon. There, Biden said, “I will never dishonor you. I will never disrespect you. I will never politicize the work you do.”
Yet, that’s exactly what Biden has done.
The anti-MAGA speech
Biden broke his promise, according to Breitbart, on Thursday during the highly-divisive anti-MAGA speech that he delivered. Biden did so by including two uniformed U.S. Marines in the event.
The two marines followed Biden up to the podium at the beginning of the event. Then, the two marines stood just behind Biden as he delivered his diatribe against the supporters of former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda.
“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic,” Biden said.
“MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution,” Biden continued. “They do not believe in the rule of the law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election.”
With the two marines standing in the background as Biden said “Trump and MAGA Republicans” threaten the country, the message was pretty clear.
The backlash
Biden has been heavily criticized for both the speech and for the decision to include U.S. Marines in the partisan event.
CNN’s Brianna Keilar, for example, tweeted:
Whatever you think of this speech the military is supposed to be apolitical. Positioning Marines in uniform behind President Biden for a political speech flies in the face of that. It’s wrong when Democrats do it. It’s wrong with Republicans do it.
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny, similarly, wrote:
There’s nothing unusual or wrong with a President delivering a political speech — it’s inherent in the job description — but doing it against a backdrop of two Marines standing at attention and the Marine Band is a break with White House traditions.
The Biden White House, however, doesn’t seem to see any issue with any of this. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has simply stated:
The presence of the Marines at the speech was intended to demonstrate the deep and abiding respect the president has for these service members, to these ideals, and the unique role our independent military plays in defending our democracy no matter which party is in power.