Saving Private Biden: Steven Spielberg helped prepare Joe for his major speech on the cliffs of Normandy for D-Day’s 80th anniversary
Director Steven Spielberga master of dramatic scenes on the beaches of Normandy, helped President prepare Joe Biden for his speech at Pointe du Hoc.
Spielberg was in the room at the Hotel Intercontinental in Paris on Friday morning as Biden made his final walk-through and prepared for what the White House billed as a major speech on democracy, according to a source with knowledge of the preparations.
The White House did not respond to questions from DailyMail.com about why Spielberg was in the room and whether or not he was compensated for his advice. A representative for Spielberg referred DailyMail.com to the White House for comment.
Spielberg is also working with the Democratic National Committee on strategy for the August national convention, where Biden will formally accept the party’s presidential nomination.
He has already met with party officials where he has received advice on the best way to tell Biden’s story and outline his vision for his second term.
Steven Spielberg was in Normandy on Thursday for the 80th anniversary of D-Day and he helped Joe Biden prepare for his Pointe du Hoc speech on Friday
Spielberg is a longtime supporter of the president and appeared with him at a fundraiser Los Angeles in December. Spielberg’s friend and former DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg is co-chairman of Biden’s reelection campaign.
The director was inside France for Thursday’s 80th anniversary event for D-Day at the American Cemetery in Normandy. Actor Tom Hanks was also present.
The two men also met several D-Day veterans who were there for the celebration and then they went out to dinner with their wives in Paris on Thursday evening.
Neither attended Biden’s democracy speech on Friday, which the president gave at the same place where Ronald Reagan gave his famous “Boys of Pointe Du Hoc” speech on June 6, 1984.
Spielberg is a talented storyteller with a good eye and he has created several pieces about it WWII and the D-Day invasion, including “Saving Private Ryan” and “Band of Brothers.”
He has won two Academy Awards for Best Director for ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and ‘Schindler’s List’.
Biden’s speech, which lasted about eleven minutes, was picturesque. The president spoke from the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, atop the same German bunker where Reagan spoke.
Behind him lay the English Channel and the Rangers Memorial, with three wreaths at its base. Before speaking, Biden paid his respects at the monument, standing in front of it and bowing his head.
On either side of Biden were the rocky beaches of Normandy that culminate in the 100-foot cliffs that Army Rangers climbed 80 years ago while under heavy fire from German guns.
The grounds around the monument are littered with 15-metre-high craters, the remains of the bombs dropped by British and American forces before the Allied invasion.
Biden arrived like a movie star to address the crowd of 150 guests.
The president flew over the site on Marine One before his arrival, entering over the water and circling the cliffs below.
President Biden delivered his speech at the picturesque clifftop spot of Pointe du Hoc
In his remarks, Biden paid tribute to the US rangers who climbed the cliffs, noting the sad fact that they have all died.
But he noted: ‘Thanks to them the war changed. They resist Hitler’s aggression. Does anyone doubt that they would want America to stand up against Putin’s aggression here in Europe today?’
“American democracy requires the hardest thing of all, to believe that we are part of something bigger than ourselves… That’s what the rangers at Pointe du Hoc did, that’s what they decided, that’s what every soldier and every Marine who stormed these beaches,” he added.
