WATERLOO, Ia. — President Donald Trump's plan to hold a Fourth of July military parade "misses the whole point about why we are the country we are," former Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday in Iowa.

Speaking to reporters after an event in a Waterloo union hall, Biden said Trump "missed the essence of who we are."

Biden expanded on his comments Thursday at a campaign event in Marshalltown, recalling previous presidents' comments praising the United States' commitment to liberty.

"Donald Trump, I believe, is incapable of celebrating what makes America great because I don’t think he gets it," Biden told the crowd.

Iowa Caucuses Candidate Tracker | DesMoinesRegister.com

Trump's "Salute to America" on Thursday is intended to honor the U.S. military. It will include a military parade, complete with Army tanks and aircraft flyovers, in Washington, D.C.

Critics have said the event injects partisan politics into the annual Independence Day celebration. Biden called it "an event designed more to stroke his ego than to celebrate American ideals."

On the campaign trail, Biden often says the U.S. should lead "not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example."

Biden has accused Trump of "tearing down the guardrails of our democracy" with attacks on the press and the justice system.

"Donald Trump threatens everything: our core values, what we stand for, what we believe," Biden told the Waterloo crowd.

Biden's Iowa trip also included marching in an Independence Day parade in Independence, Iowa, on Thursday morning and attending an Iowa Cubs baseball game in Des Moines.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169.