To say that America is a democracy is to issue a statement of belief.
The contrast between Biden saying America is still a democracy and Trump vowing to make it great again is more than a quirk of speechwriting.
Both candidates, now in a dead heat in the 2024 presidential race, look to the nation’s past but through divergent lenses.
It’s the difference between America as an ideal worth preserving and an illusion worth summoning.
The message of “still” is that we remain who we are, but that this condition is not immutable, that America as Biden envisions it exists somewhere between reality and possibility.
Persons:
”, MAGA, Biden’s “, Biden, Trump, “, Trump’s “, ” Biden
Organizations:
Independence Hall
Locations:
America, Philadelphia