Biden indirectly rebukes Trump at West Point commencemen

President Biden reminded the graduating class of the U.S. Military Academy on Saturday that their oath is to the Constitution, not any political party or president, delivering an implicit rebuke of former president Donald Trump.

In his 22-minute commencement address, Biden did not mention Trump by name, but he made clear that he was referring to his Republican opponent by pointing to a letter that was a clear reprimand of Trump’s leadership. The open letter, signed by more than 1,000 West Point alumni, was addressed to the graduating class of 2020 before Trump delivered the commencement address here. It came just days after military police helped forcibly clear peaceful protesters outside the White House ahead of a Trump photo op. The alumni reminded that year’s graduating class that they pledge service to “no monarch; no government; no political party; no tyrant.”

“Remember what over 1,000 graduates of West Point wrote to the class of 2020 four years ago,” Biden said. “The oath you’ve taken here ‘has no expiration date,’ they said.”