President Joe Biden warned Thursday night that “equality and democracy are under attack” in the U.S. as he sounded the alarm about his predecessor, Donald Trump, and his “Republican MAGA” followers, calling them an extremist threat to the nation and his future. Aiming to reframe the November election as part of a battle for the nation’s soul — “the work of my presidency” — Biden used his opening remarks at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to argue that Trump and allies ” Make America Great Again’ now leading the Republican Party are a threat to the nation’s system of government, its standing abroad, and the way of life of its citizens. “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic,” Biden said. He said they are “determined to take this country back,” “promoting authoritarian leaders and fanning the flames of political violence. “ Biden’s explicit attempt to marginalize Trump and his supporters marks a sharp turnaround for the president, who proclaimed his desire to bring about national unity in his inaugural address. White House officials said it reflected growing concern over Trump allies’ ideological propositions and relentless denial of the nation’s 2020 election results. “MAGA forces are determined to take this country back,” Biden said. “Back to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry the one you love.” “Now, America must choose to go forward or go backward,” he said, urging citizens to “vote, vote, vote” to protect their democracy. “For too long, we have assured ourselves that American democracy is guaranteed . But it is not.” Biden, who largely avoided even referring to the “former guy” by name during his first year in office, has become increasingly vocal in calling out Trump personally. Now, emboldened by his party’s recent legislative victories and wary of Trump’s return to the headlines, Biden is sharpening his attacks, last week likening the “MAGA philosophy” to “semi-fascism.” Trump is planning a rally this weekend in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Biden’s hometown. In Philadelphia, Biden revisited the 2017 white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, which he said led him out of political retirement to challenge Trump. Biden argued that the country faces a similar crossroads in the coming months and called defending the nation’s values ”the work of my presidency — a mission that I believe in with all my soul.” Raising his voice to pro-Trump supporters outside the building where the nation’s founding was debated, Biden said he did not condemn the 74 million people who voted for Trump in 2020. “Not all Republicans, not even the majority of Republicans, are MAGA Republicans,” Biden said. “But there is no doubt that the Republican Party today is dominated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans.” Biden’s appearance was promoted as a taxpayer-funded official event, a sign of how the president views defeating Trump’s agenda as much a policy goal as a political one. Red and blue lights illuminated the brick of Independence Hall as the Marine Band played “Hail to the Chief” and a pair of Marine Guardsmen stood on parade rest in the background. However, the major television networks did not carry the address live. “There are far more Americans, of all backgrounds and persuasions, who reject the extreme MAGA ideology than there are who embrace it,” Biden said. He urged Americans to “come together, unite behind the single cause of defending our democracy regardless of your ideology.” Biden also condemned political violence in all its forms, saying, “We cannot allow violence to be normalized.” Delivering a preemptive rebuttal from Scranton on Thursday night, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy accused Biden of trying to divide Americans and blasted the Democratic record in Washington, pointing to rising inflation, crime and unemployment. government spending. “Over the past two years, Joe Biden has launched an assault on the soul of America, on its people, on its laws, on its most sacred values,” he said. “He has launched an attack on our democracy. His policies have seriously wounded America’s soul, diminished America’s spirit, and betrayed America’s trust.” Asked about McCarthy’s criticism, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier Thursday that “we understand we hit a nerve” with the GOP leader and cited the Republican’s previous statements that Trump was responsible for the attack on the 6 January 2021. the US Capitol. Larry Diamond, a democracy expert and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, said Trump’s call for attacks on democracy “can be manipulated or seen as partisan. And if you don’t call it out, you’re taking away an important challenge for the defense of democracy”. Even this week, Trump was posting on his beleaguered social media platform about overturning the 2020 election results and holding a new presidential election, which would violate the Constitution. The White House has sought to keep Biden out of the legal and political maelstrom surrounding the Justice Department’s discovery of classified documents at Trump’s Florida home. But Biden has pointed to some Republicans’ quick condemnation of federal law enforcement to argue that “you can’t be pro-insurgency and pro-American.” Biden’s trip to Philadelphia was just one of three in the state in a week, a sign of Pennsylvania’s importance in the midterms, with competitive Senate and governor races. However, neither Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic Senate candidate, nor Attorney General Josh Shapiro, their pick for governor, attended Thursday night. The White House intended the speech to bring together familiar themes: the bipartisan gun and infrastructure legislative victory as proof that democracies “can succeed,” pushing GOP policies on guns and abortion that Biden says are out of step; with most people’s opinions. and rejecting efforts to undermine confidence in the nation’s elections or diminish its standing abroad. The challenges have only increased following the turmoil surrounding the 2020 election and the attack on Capitol Hill. The lies surrounding this presidential race have prompted harassment and death threats against state and local election officials and new restrictions on mail-in voting in Republican-dominated states. County election officials have faced pressure to ban the use of voting equipment, efforts fueled by conspiracy theories that voting machines were somehow manipulated to steal the election. Candidates challenging Trump’s loss have been inspired to run for state and local election seats, promising to restore integrity to a system undermined by false claims. There is no evidence of widespread fraud or manipulation of voting machines. Judges, including those appointed by Trump, have dismissed dozens of lawsuits filed after the election, and Trump’s own attorney general has called the claims bogus. But an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that about two-thirds of Republicans say they don’t believe Biden was legitimately elected president. This year, election officials face not only the ongoing threat of foreign interference, but also ransomware, politically motivated hackers and insider threats. In the past year, security breaches have been reported at a small number of local election offices in which authorities are investigating whether office staff improperly accessed or provided improper access to sensitive voting technology.
Happening Now: President Biden makes remarks about the ongoing battle for the nation’s soul. https://t.co/MxXxdvobvT — The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 2, 2022
