Biden says heroes killed on D-Day and troops who fought the Nazis would want America to stand up to Putin in speech on cliff where Rangers died liberating Europe

President Joe Biden told the story of Army Rangers scaling a 100ft cliff under Nazi gunfire 80 years ago and urged Americans to follow their example in fighting hateful ideologies at home and abroad in a major set-piece speech Friday.

Standing above the beaches where Allied forces poured into occupied France on D-Day, he invoked their spirit to set out his own vision for America's place in the world.

'Does anyone doubt they would want America to stand up against Putin's aggression here in Europe today,' he said.

'They stormed the beaches alongside our allies. Does anyone believe Rangers want America to go it alone today.' 

Biden is in France to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day and will be feted in Paris on Saturday during an official visit.

But Friday's speech was freighted with politics, coming as it does in election year and as Biden seeks to win over Reaganite Republicans worried about Donald Trump's attitude to national security. 

'When we talk about democracy—American democracy—we often talk big ideas like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,' he said. 'What we don't talk about enough is how hard it is.'

To underline the point, the presidential lectern was set up on a concrete German bunker.

The backdrop could not have been more dramatic, with the blue of the English Channel behind him, the rocky landing beaches on either side, and the ground all around dotted by 50ft craters left by Allied bombing 80 years ago.

Nor could it have been more symbolic. In 1984, Ronald Reagan used the same spot to deliver one of the most powerful speeches of his presidency, using the story of how a brave band of Army Rangers scaled the perilous cliffs of Pointe du Hoc as part of the fight against tyranny. 

'These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc,' he said in a speech at the height of the Cold War.

'These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.'

He was an aging president using bygone American glory to help his reelection campaign. 

Biden risks unflattering comparisons by so closely aping one of his Republican predecessor's most inspiring moments.

But it underlines how he believes he can position Democrats as the party of international freedom at a time when Donald Trump has said he would encourage Russia to do 'whatever it wants' against NATO allies that do not spend enough on their armed forces. 

A B-52 bomber - escorted by two F35s - made a fly by ahead of Biden’s arrival.

Much of Biden's speech echoed his themes of the day before, when he warned the world against isolationism. 

But he also hinted at his race at home against Trump and what's at stake in the November election.

'They're asking us to stay true to what America stands for,' said Biden, as he invoked the spirit of the Rangers who scaled the cliffs. 

'They're not asking us to give or risk our lives. They  are asking us care for others in our country, within ourselves.

'They're not asking us to do their job They are asking us to do our job: To protect freedom in our time, defend democracy, to stand up to aggression abroad and at home, to be part of something bigger than ourselves.'

His audience included veterans such as Pfc John Wardell, from New Jersey, who came ashore on June 16, 1944.

'We love you man,' said Biden. 'Thank you for all you've done.'

After his speech he sought out the 99-year-old to shake hands with him.

Brett Bruen, who worked in the White House under President Barack Obama, said Biden's speech lived up to the Reagan comparisons. 

'Reagan spoke at a moment when our ideals & institutions faced grave external threat,' he said. 

'Biden had an equally, ominous backdrop today and he effectively evoked the domestic threats American, allies' democracies currently confront.

'It also placed Trump's pettiness and personal grievances in pretty stark contrast with the principles for which so many of the greatest generation fought and died.'

Democratic strategist Brad Bannon said Biden's delivery could never compete with Reagan, who was an actor before entering politics.

'Democracy is under threat,' he said. 'That's why Reagan went there to make that speech, to talk about the threats to democracy, and I think it was appropriate for President Biden to go to the same place to make the same point.'

Biden was in Normandy a day earlier, taking part in events to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

He used it to underline the importance of international alliances, like the one that delivered than 150,000 troops into occupied France within 24 hours.

'To surrender to bullies, to bow down to dictators, is simply unthinkable,' he said at the American Normandy Cemetery, with 30 D-Day veterans sitting behind him.

'If we were to do that, it means we'd be forgetting what happened here on these hallowed beaches.'

Earlier in the day, Biden put his money where his mouth is. He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and announced another $225 million in funding for his fight against Russia, and apologies for delays in delivering aid.

'We're still in ... completely, thoroughly,' Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart during their meeting at a Paris hotel.