'It was a speech filled with emotion'
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Transcript
00:00 It was a speech filled with emotion.
00:02 We're told that's something Joe Biden has wanted to do
00:04 for numerous days.
00:06 He was editing it on the way back from that trip to Israel
00:09 aboard Air Force One.
00:10 And it was really given the gravity that he wanted
00:13 by setting it in the Oval Office,
00:16 only the second time in his presidency
00:17 that he's addressed the nation from the Resolute Desk.
00:20 Now, he was framing to Americans why wars,
00:23 which are on the other side of the world
00:25 and seemingly a million miles away, matter.
00:27 He said that all in the interest of national security.
00:30 Now, he was trying to rouse support for Ukraine.
00:33 We've seen that Ukraine support dwindle
00:37 over the last few months.
00:38 And he was basically equating the barbarity
00:41 that we've seen displayed by Hamas in recent weeks
00:43 to the early days of the conflict in Ukraine.
00:46 You'll remember that awful massacre in Bucho,
00:49 just north of Kiev in the early days of that war.
00:52 He also alternated between Israel and Ukraine
00:55 when he was talking, really trying to tie those two together
00:59 in the minds of the public as well.
01:01 Now, he spoke of the threat that Putin and Iran
01:04 and its allies pose to Western democracies,
01:07 saying that they want to annihilate democracies.
01:10 He's appealing there to the patriotic spirit
01:13 here in the United States, saying American leadership
01:16 is what holds the world together,
01:18 urging the help for Ukraine.
01:20 He's saying that Ukraine is only asking for help.
01:23 That's all they want.
01:24 Finally, he then brought it home for Americans,
01:26 speaking about the homeland.
01:28 He said, "Hate has no place in America."
01:31 A few days ago, there was a six-year-old
01:32 Palestinian-American who was murdered,
01:35 and his mother was also savagely attacked
01:38 and is still in hospital at the moment.
01:40 And that has really shocked the country.
01:42 Finally, he was appealing to that American spirit,
01:45 saying, "Nothing is beyond our capacity
01:47 "when we do it together."