Joe Biden honors son Beau during Memorial Day speech as he issues warning to Putin ahead of G7 meeting
PRESIDENT Joe Biden paid tribute to his late son Beau in a Memorial Day speech, as he issued a warning to Vladimir Putin ahead of their G7 meeting.
A visibly emotional Biden was joined by his family, including Beau’s children, on the sixth anniversary of his son’s death.
“Six years ago, Hunter lost his dad, and I lost my son,” he said of Beau, who passed away at the age of 46 after battling brain cancer.
The speech took place on Sunday at Veterans Memorial Park near the Delaware Memorial Bridge shortly after Biden attended a church service at St. Joseph on the Brandywine nearby, Daily Mail reports.
It came amidst criticism leveled at Vice President Harris for a tweet commemorating Memorial Day that failed to mention fallen troops.
“Beau didn’t die in the line of duty, but he was serving a Delaware National Guard unit in Iraq for a year,” the President added.
“That was one of the proudest things he did in his life. So thank you for allowing us to grieve together today.”
Beau Biden joined the military in 2003 as a member of the Delaware Army National Guard.
He was deployed to Iraq for a year in 2008 and returned shortly after his father had started his term as Obama’s vice president.
Beau later ascended to the rank of major and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Legion of Merit after his death in 2015.
The President was joined by his wife Jill, and grandson Hunter, the child of the late Beau Biden.
But the speech wasn’t only soft words, as Biden also made clear that he plans to push Russian President Putin on the topic of human rights when the two leaders meet in Geneva for the G7 meeting on June 16.
“I’m meeting with President Putin in a couple weeks in Geneva making it clear we will not, we will not stand by and let him abuse those rights.”
The meeting comes as the U.S.-Russia relationship remains tense after a hack of Microsoft with possible ties to Russia.
The Kremlin has denied involvement in the cyberattack, which was carried out by Nobelium, the same group responsible for the Russia-based SolarWinds hack in 2020, Reuters reports.
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Delaware Gov. John Carney thanked Biden for traveling to his home state and for his administration’s handling of COVID-19.
“Normally on Memorial Day events, we don’t have coats and sweats on,” Carney said, referring to the rainy weather.
“I was just happy to be there without a mask on, to be honest with you.”
