Seeking to rally Democrats two months before the midterm elections, President Joe Biden on Thursday branded former President Donald Trump an extremist along with his followers and called MAGA Republicans a threat to the nation.
Biden made an evening speech at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall to castigate Trump and those who support his Make America Great Again movement, saying “equality and democracy are under assault. We do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise.”
“Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” Biden said.
That was the most demagogic, outrageous, and divisive speech I have ever seen from an American president. Joe Biden essentially declared all those who oppose him and his agenda enemies of the republic. Truly shameful. pic.twitter.com/ZcJX2BbZlt
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 2, 2022
Biden said there are Republicans he likes because they work with him.
“Now, I want to be very clear, very clear up front. Not every Republican, not even the majority of Republicans, are MAGA Republicans. Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology. I know, because I’ve been able to work with these mainstream Republicans,” he said.
“But there’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans. And that is a threat to this country,” Biden said.
After claiming he was not only the president of blue America and that he felt compelled to the truth, Biden said, “MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election, and they’re working right now as I speak in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.”
Was this Biden speech appropriate?
Touching on the Supreme Court decision that overturned the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion and states that have moved to restrict abortion, Biden painted many Republicans as enemies of progress.
“MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards, backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love. They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fanned the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country,” he said.
After Joe Biden’s speech tonight… millions of Americans stopped being MAGA Republicans… and became ULTRA MAGA Republicans.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) September 2, 2022
After citing the Capitol incursion, Biden said Trump’s followers reject the truth.
“MAGA Republicans have made their choice. They embrace anger. They thrive on chaos. They live, not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies,” he said.
In a direct shot at Trump, Biden said, “blind loyalty to a single leader and a willingness to engage in political violence is fatal to democracy.”
Tonight, Joe Biden vilified millions of Americans in a divisive & angry speech that was detached from the reality of his political failures.
He isn’t actually interested in restoring the soul of the nation, he’s only interested pitting his fellow Americans against one another. pic.twitter.com/6YfYAKiph9
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 2, 2022
With a reference to the recent controversial raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, Biden said, “And, can you believe it, F.B.I. agents just doing their job as directed, facing threats to their own lives from their own fellow citizens.”
Biden, who praised protests that followed the death of George Floyd, said unrest is wrong.
“There are public figures today, yesterday and the day before predicting and all but calling for mass violence and rioting in the streets. This is inflammatory. It’s dangerous. It’s against the rule of law,” he said.
