Biden urges US to protect democracy in speech at key D-Day site in France

PARIS President Joe Biden on June 7 urged the US to protect democracy and follow the example of World War II heroes, in a speech on a clifftop in northern France that was the scene of a bloody confrontation between US troops and occupying Germans on D-Day.

Mr Biden gave the speech on the final day of ceremonies marking 80 years since the Allied landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944, that marked a turning point in World War II.

He is set to face Republican rival and predecessor Donald Trump in 2024, in a presidential election that commentators predict will subject US democracy to a severe test.

Mr Biden summoned up the ghosts of the heroes of the assault on the Pointe du Hoc, a clifftop promontory where German bunkers were attacked by US troops.

"They (the veterans) are summoning us," he said, against the backdrop of the Channel. "They ask us, what will we do? They're not asking us to scale these cliffs.

They're asking us to stay true to what America stands for." Mr Biden's speech came under the shadow of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has left war again raging in Europe eight decades after the end of World War II. There are also fears that Trump will scale down US participation in international alliances like Nato and lessen support for Ukraine if he wins.

"American democracy asks the hardest of things: to believe that we're a part of something bigger than ourselves. So democracy begins with each of us," he said.