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| Biden on Holocaust Remembrance Day |
“During these sacred Days of Remembrance, we grieve. We give voice to the 6 million Jews who were systematically targeted and murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War Two.”Speaking in Emancipation Hall in the United States Capitol, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, May 7, 2024, United States President Joe Biden addressed the ongoing Gaza war with a classic persuasive speaking pattern: he started with the general theme, moved to the specific, and then shifted back to the general. Moving through that pattern, Biden placed the ongoing horrors into a historical and moral context. As he did so, Biden offered implicit support for Israel’s Gaza war's policies.
Never ignore a ceremonial speech’s persuasive impact!
The General Point
The Holocaust survivor's slogan, “never forget,” signifies that history’s cruel lessons are too easily forgotten. Biden therefore wisely reviewed the Holocaust’s basic historical facts. Thus, following his opening comment about “6 million Jews who were systematically targeted and murdered,” Biden offered some personal experiences. This was, after all, a day of remembrance, not a political situation per se. Biden then reminded the assembled audience that antisemitism fueled the Nazi party’s rise to power:
“Germany, 1933. Hitler and his Nazi party rise to power by rekindling one of the world’s oldest forms of prejudice and hate: antisemitism.”Biden then warned his audience that the Holocaust spread throughout Nazi-controlled territory because the rest of the world ignored the terror and suffering:
“With the indifference of the world, Hitler knew he could expand his reign of terror by eliminating Jews from Germany, to annihilate Jews across Europe through genocide the Nazi’s called the ‘Final Solution’’ — concentration camps, gas chambers, mass shootings.”Biden’s general message: “never forget,” he said.
The Specific Point
Specific events underlie every generality. So, for his next points, Biden related antisemitism to the horrible war in Gaza. Demonstrators on college campuses across the United States have protested Israel’s violent attacks in Gaza, attacks that have caused dreadful civilian casualties. Biden’s specific point was to remind his listeners that the war began when Hamas, the political movement that governs Gaza, attacked concentrations of civilians in Israel. Biden tied Hamas’ violence directly to the ancient bigotry that led to the Holocaust:
Israel, as is well known, responded with a massive attack against Gaza.
Biden complained that Jewish students have been harassed on college campuses. Relating the Holocaust to Hamas’ October attack against Israel, Biden tied the ongoing suffering to the Holocaust itself:
Back to the General
It is, however, the general point, not the specific one, that arbitrates moral judgments. So, in this Holocaust Remembrance Day speech, Biden brought us back to a more general point. Never quite saying so aloud, Biden stated the basic value that the United States of America bears a sacred obligation to guard civilization. He implied that guarding civilization includes opposing antisemitic violence. So, as he neared his conclusion, Biden called on a greater value:
Specific events underlie every generality. So, for his next points, Biden related antisemitism to the horrible war in Gaza. Demonstrators on college campuses across the United States have protested Israel’s violent attacks in Gaza, attacks that have caused dreadful civilian casualties. Biden’s specific point was to remind his listeners that the war began when Hamas, the political movement that governs Gaza, attacked concentrations of civilians in Israel. Biden tied Hamas’ violence directly to the ancient bigotry that led to the Holocaust:
“Driven by ancient desire to wipe out the Jewish people off the face of the Earth, over 1,200 innocent people — babies, parents, grandparents — slaughtered in their kibbutz, massacred at a musical festival, brutally raped, mutilated, and sexually assaulted. Thousands more carrying wounds, bullets, and shrapnel from the memory of that terrible day they endured. Hundreds taken hostage, including survivors of the Shoah.”
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| Biden Speaking in Emancipation Hall |
Israel, as is well known, responded with a massive attack against Gaza.
Biden complained that Jewish students have been harassed on college campuses. Relating the Holocaust to Hamas’ October attack against Israel, Biden tied the ongoing suffering to the Holocaust itself:
“Too many people [are] denying, downplaying, rationalizing, ignoring the horrors of the Holocaust and October 7th, including Hamas’s appalling use of sexual violence to torture and terrorize Jews.”With those words, Biden connected the Gaza war to the larger context of antisemitic violence.
Back to the General
It is, however, the general point, not the specific one, that arbitrates moral judgments. So, in this Holocaust Remembrance Day speech, Biden brought us back to a more general point. Never quite saying so aloud, Biden stated the basic value that the United States of America bears a sacred obligation to guard civilization. He implied that guarding civilization includes opposing antisemitic violence. So, as he neared his conclusion, Biden called on a greater value:
“Great American — great Jewish American named Tom Lantos used the phrase, ‘The veneer of civilization is paper thin. We are its guardians, and we can never rest.’
My fellow Americans, we must — we must be those guardians. We must never rest. We must rise against hate, meet across the divide, see our common humanity.”
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In a ceremonial speech like Biden’s, an audience rarely wants a point-by-point policy discussion. This wasn’t the time. Instead, a ceremonial speaker makes a point by reviewing the moral values that lead us to praise and condemn. Praise and blame then give our decisions ethical guidance. We condemn the Nazis. We condemn antisemitism. Those are value statements.
Then, by placing the Gaza war into that larger context, by reminding us of the ongoing evils of antisemitism, Biden gave his audience a larger view. As he began the speech, Biden honored the Holocaust’s victims and condemned, not only the Nazi perpetrators, but also the indifferent world that stood silent as the Nazis cruelly ravaged Europe’s Jews. Only then did Biden remind the audience that Hamas itself began the current war by attacking, raping, and kidnapping Israeli civilians. Concluding, Biden returned to general moral values, urging the United States to guard the world’s freedom.
After all, values guide our policies. We can disagree about values (just as we disagree about policies), but we must never ignore them.
by William D. Harpine
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Theoretical note: Communication scholars place ceremonial speeches in the epideictic genre. An epideictic speech (literally, a speech that “shows forth” or “enlightens”) offers praise or blame, often implying moral guidance. My colleague Dale Sullivan wrote a fine article explaining epideictic rhetoric.
More generally, rhetorical critics typically examine deep-thinking issues, analyzing a speaker’s cultural principles, language use, or historical context. Those matters deserve our attention. Too often, however, we communication researchers ignore the speech’s organization. Is that an oversight? Organization can reveal a speaker’s priorities and motivating principles. In this case, Biden may have said more with organization that he did with content.
Copyright © 2024, William D. Harpine
Images of Biden speaking in Emancipation Hall: White House YouTube channel
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