The divider-in-chief is doing what his old boss did best.

President Biden said the U.S. will persevere through unsettling times in remarks at a July 4th barbecue with military families at the White House.

The economy is growing, but not without pain. Liberty is under assault, assault both here and abroad, he said. In recent days, there has been reason to think that this country is moving backward, that freedom has been reduced, that rights we assumed were protected are no longer.

Is this the new patriotism, using an event with military families to claim that America is moving backward because killing babies isn’t protected by the Constitution?

I know it can be exhausting and unsettling, Biden said. But tonight, I want you to know we’re going to get through all of this.

Who is we? Besides the pink hat brigade that he’s actually addressing here.

He said the United States has always been a work in progress.

After we’ve taken giant steps forward, we’ve taken a few steps backwards, the president said. And after doing the hard work of laying the foundation for a better future, the worst of our past has reached out and pulled us back on occasion.

I’m not sure even Obama would have used a military event on Independence Day to claim that America sucks. But then again he might have.