The words preceding President Biden’s emotional, frustrated proclamation that Putin “cannot remain in power” signaled what Biden actually meant by his words;
“a dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase a people’s love for liberty. Brutality will never grind down their will to be free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, for free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness.”
Biden is an emotional man who is passionate about democracy, decency, and his responsibilities as the leader of the free world. During his trip to Brussels and Poland, Biden witnessed the reality of the destruction and suffering resulting from Putin’s violent invasion of Ukraine. His closing remarks honored the bravery and dedication to freedom the Ukrainians are showing to the world as they battle Russia’s infiltration of their country. People who are not Russian sympathizers or political enemies of Joe Biden interpreted Biden’s controversial words to mean that all people deserve freedom and dictators should not have the power to take away any people’s right to decide what kind of government will define their country. Biden’s emotional words ” For God’s sake” prefaced his cry for Putin to not have the power to do to any country what he is doing to Ukraine. These words from the President of the United States strongly reinforced to the global community that America proudly leads the fight to defend democracies over the spread of dictatorships.
The White House has reiterated that Biden’s statement about Putin was not a call for a regime change in Russia. His inspirational statements about liberty were aimed to inspire the Russian people to think about what they want their country to stand for:
- the darkness that drives autocracy is ultimately no match for the flame of liberty that lights the souls of free people everywhere.
- remember the hammer blow that brought down the Berlin Wall, the might that lifted the Iron Curtain were not the words of a single leader, it was the people of Europe, who for decades fought to free themselves
- the brave Ukrainian people are showing that their power of many is greater than the will of any one dictator.
- Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, for free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness.
- We have to fight the corruption coming from the Kremlin to give the Russian people a fair chance.
Biden’s words recall how history has proven the power of people who have resisted autocracies that strengthens the survival of democracies. That is the most important message from the president’s historical speech in Brussels.
