Steven Spielberg helped put together Biden for speech on cliffs of Normandy
Director Steven Spielberg, a master of dramatic scenes on the beaches of Normandy, helped prepare President Joe Biden for his speech at Pointe du Hoc.
Spielberg was in the room at the Hotel Intercontinental in Paris on Friday morning when Biden was doing his final run through and prep 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 inquiries from DailyMail.com on 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 August’s national convention, where Biden will formally accept the party’s presidential nomination.
He’s already been in meetings with party officials where he’s offered 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 on Friday prepare for his speech at Pointe du Hoc
Spielberg is a longtime supporter of the president’s and appeared at a fundraiser with him in Los Angeles in December. Spielberg’s friend and former DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg is a co-chair of Biden’s re-election campaign.
The director was in 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 with 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 man attended Biden’s speech on democracy on Friday, which the president gave on the same spot Ronald Reagan gave his famous ‘Boys of Pointe Du Hoc’ speech on June 6th, 1984.
Spielberg is a talented story-teller with a great eye and he’s made several pieces about World War II 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 11 minutes, was picturesque. The president spoke from the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, atop the same German bunker from where Reagan spoke.
Behind him was the English Channel and the Rangers Memorial, with three wreaths at his base. Before he spoke, Biden paid his respects at the memorial, standing before it and bowing his head.
On either side of Biden were the rocky beaches of Normandy that proceed the 100-foot high cliffs that Army Rangers scaled 80 years ago while under heavy fire from German guns.
The grounds around the memorial are dotted with 50 feet craters, the remains of the bombs British and American forces dropped ahead of the Allied invasion.
Biden arrived like a movie star to speak to the crowd of 150 invited guests.
The president flew over the site on Marine One ahead of his arrival, coming in over the water and circling the cliffs below.
President Biden gave his speech in the picturesque spot on the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc
In his remarks, Biden paid tribute to US rangers who climbed the cliffs, noting the sad fact that all of them have passed away.
But he noted: ‘Because of them the war turned. They stood against Hitler’s aggression. Does anyone doubt that they would want America to stand up against Putin’s aggression here in Europe today?’
‘American democracy asks the hardest of things, to believe that we’re 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 this beaches decided,’ he added.
