Neither President Joe Biden nor the White House recognized the 77th anniversary of D-Day, the U.S-led invasion of Normandy on June 6 during World War II in which thousands of service members died while storming the French beaches.
Instead, Biden tweeted video of a meeting he held last week with survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
“I met with survivors of the Tulsa Massacre this week to help fill the silence. Because in silence, wounds deepen. And, as painful as it is, only in remembrance do wounds heal,” the president wrote.
When asked why Biden didn’t acknowledge the day, White House Press Secretary Jenn Psaki said, “I can tell you that certainly his value for the role the men who served on D-Day and the memory of them … is something the president has spoke to many times in the past. It’s close to his heart.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more we would have to say about it,” Psaki added.
Both former presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama commemorated the anniversary with Presidential Proclamations.
“Today, we pause to remember and honor all of the brave soldiers, sailors, and airmen whose selfless sacrifices catalyzed the deliverance of oppressed people and secured freedom for decades to come,” Trump wrote in one proclamation from 2019. “May we always be true to the virtues and principles for which this D-Day generation ‑‑ the Greatest Generation ‑‑ paid so dearly.”
Obama wrote a similar tribute in 2014, stating that the D-Day victory “dealt a significant blow to an ideology fueled by hatred.”
“It allowed America and our allies to secure a foothold in France, open a path to Berlin, and liberate a continent from the grip of tyranny. It made possible the achievements that followed the end of World War II — the Marshall Plan, the NATO alliance, and the shared prosperity and security that flowed from each,” Obama wrote. “Seventy years later, we pay tribute to the service members who secured a beachhead on an unforgiving shore — the patriots who, through their courage and sacrifice, changed the course of an entire century.”
Unlike President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris did acknowledge the battle’s anniversary, tweeting, “On the 77th anniversary of #DDay, we honor the heroes who stormed the beaches of Normandy and liberated a continent. We will never forget their courage and sacrifice.”
First Lady Jill Biden also addressed the anniversary on Twitter, writing, “77 years ago, families gathered around radios and heard FDR pray for a “peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.” Let us never forget those who fought, their families, or sacrifices, and let us always pray for peace. #DDay.”
Biden’s failure to recognize D-Day didn’t go unnoticed. The House Republicans Twitter account pointed out the omission, writing, “President Biden never mentioned D-Day yesterday.”
