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Post Politics Now Speaking to midshipmen, Biden says Putin’s brutality toward Ukraine rallied Europe in opposition

President Biden gives a diploma to a midshipman during the U.S. Naval Academy graduation and commissioning ceremony in Annapolis, Md. on Friday. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

Today, President Biden said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brutality toward Ukraine had rallied Europe in opposition as he addressed the U.S. Naval Academy’s commissioning ceremony in Annapolis, Md., where Biden told the midshipmen that they are graduating at “an inflection point not only in American history but in world history.” Biden said Putin had effectively “NATO-ized all of Europe,” meaning, contrary to his intentions, Putin had strengthened the transcontinental military alliance.

Former president Donald Trump spoke at a National Rifle Association convention in Houston, just four hours’ drive from the site of the school massacre this week in Uvalde, Tex., that left 19 children and two teachers dead. The dueling appearances, in very different settings, offer a reminder of the 2020 presidential contest and a preview of a possible 2024 rematch.  

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  • 10 a.m. Eastern: Biden addressed the U.S. Naval Academy’s Class of 2022 graduation and commissioning ceremony in Annapolis, Md. Watch here.
  • 3 p.m. Eastern: Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and others addressed the NRA convention in Houston. Watch here.
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10 a.m. Eastern: Biden addressed the U.S. Naval Academy’s Class of 2022 graduation and commissioning ceremony in Annapolis, Md. Watch here.
3 p.m. Eastern: Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and others addressed the NRA convention in Houston. Watch here.

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