Is America An “Idea?” Joe Biden Says Yes, Donald Trump Rejects Such a Notion
Richard Moorhead
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Joe Biden has endorsed the establishment liberal definition of America being little more than an “idea,” whereas President Trump has expressly rejected such a notion.
Joe Biden stated that America is an “idea” on a liberal podcast this week, going even further and claiming that the American idea had never been fully realized. The supposed true nature of the American character has never been broadly achieved, according to the former Vice President.
America was an idea. We've never lived up to it but we've never walked away from it before.https://t.co/VRCnKI0rfQ pic.twitter.com/xLuhhGyJVp
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 22, 2020
President Trump blasted Biden for likening America to a mere “idea” while speaking at a rally in Florida on Friday night.
President @realDonaldTrump At Make America Great Again Victory Rally in Florida
"Biden says America is nothing more than an idea…well America is not an idea it's a great country. And America is our home. It's a nation and a nation that has borders." #AmericaFirst pic.twitter.com/g3Cn9DUsba
— The Columbia Bugle ???????? (@ColumbiaBugle) October 23, 2020
Ideas are generally applicable in all times and places regardless of national and historical circumstance. According to Joe Biden’s understanding of America, anyone and everyone throughout the world could be considered equally “American” if they align with his ideological understanding of the idea. This disregards the historical American tradition, legacy and heritage, which far predates the novel notion of Americanism being little more than an “idea.”
The history of the notion America being an ‘idea’ dates back to the late 1990’s, when neoconservatives began to popularize the notion. It’s curious that the assertion is relatively new within American history, despite speaking as to the fundamental nature of America’s national character.
Try asking patriots who rebelled against Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, Union soldiers in the Civil War, and G.I’s storming Normandy in World War II if they were fighting for an “idea.” They’d have roundly rejected such an ahistorical notion- America was understood as a finite and corporeal nation to its citizens throughout its history, not a vague concept to be determined at the whims of liberal ideologues.
The contrast on “American idea” rhetoric couldn’t be more stark, and it appears that the November election will serve as a referendum between Biden’s hypothetical understanding of America and Trump’s America First vision of emphasizing American people, ways of life, and communities.
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