Biden: "Trump's extreme MAGA Republicans threaten US democracy"
In a fiery address from Philadelphia, US president Joe Biden warns that Republicans, i.e. half of his nation, “pose a clear and present danger” to US democracy.
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US President Joe Biden at Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia
US President Joe Biden bashed former US President Donald Trump and “MAGA Republicans,” warning that they “pose a clear and present danger” to US democracy.
In a fiery address from Philadelphia, he said, “It’s in our hands, yours and mine, to stop the assault on American democracy”.
“I believe America is at an inflection point, one of those moments that determine the shape of everything that’s to come after,” he added.
Republicans "represent an extremism”
The US President stated that the country was still fighting for the "soul of the nation."
Biden's approach was a clear callback to the theme that animated his 2020 presidential campaign, framing the November elections as an existential choice between his party's agenda and Republicans' "extreme Maga ideology."
“Donald Trump and the Maga Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic,” Biden stressed.
It is worth noting that Maga is an acronym for “Make America great again” – a slogan from Trump’s 2016 election campaign.
"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," he stated.
Democrats believe that making Trump a central theme of the midterm elections will harm Republicans' chances of regaining control of Congress.
"Tonight I have come here to the place where it all began to speak plainly to the nation about the threats we face," Biden said at Philadelphia's Independence Hall.
"About the power we have in our own hands to meet those threats. And about the incredible future that lies in front of us if only we choose it," he said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the US President condemned Trump and MAGA Republicans for "representing an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic," accusing them of “not respecting the Constitution."
“For a long time, we've reassured ourselves that American democracy is guaranteed," he said.
"But it is not. We have to defend it. Protect it. Stand up for it. Each and every one of us," he added.
"I will not stand by and let elections be stolen by people who simply refuse to believe that they lost”, he said.
“Joe Biden is the divider-in-chief”
In response, RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel commented on Biden’s speech by saying, "Joe Biden's wretched attacks on millions of Americans have fueled attacks on pregnancy centers, Republican offices, and an assassination attempt on a Supreme Court Justice."
"His agenda has pitted neighbors against each other, rewarded the wealthy while punishing working families, and trampled on the rights and freedoms of Americans. Joe Biden is the divider-in-chief and epitomizes the current state of the Democrat Party: one of divisiveness, disgust, and hostility towards half the country," she added.
“That is not leadership”
In a speech Thursday prior to Biden's primetime event, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy lashed out at Biden, accusing him of choosing to "divide, demean and disparage his fellow Americans."
"Why? Simply because they disagree with his policies," he added. "That is not leadership."
"When the president speaks tonight at Independence Hall, the first lines out of his mouth [should] be to apologize for slandering tens of millions of Americans as fascists."
In his first political rally speech ahead of the November midterm elections, Biden denounced Trump-allied Republicans and compared the MAGA movement to "semi-fascism".
It is worth noting that Trump will speak this week at an event in Pennsylvania alongside three of his endorsed candidates.
Inevitable civil war looms on the horizon
This comes as Americans are feeling quite pessimistic about the future of the country, as almost half of them think that a civil war could break out soon.
More than two-fifths of US citizens consider a civil war inevitable in the next 10 years, a figure that rises to more than half among self-identified "strong Republicans."
The findings of YouGov and the Economist research follow similar results in previous polls.
US Senator Lindsey Graham warned on Sunday of "riots in the streets" if former US President Trump faces charges over his handling of documents found when the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago home.
Eyeing the US' long history of political violence and assassination, current rising radicalism and fighting words increase jagged political division and explicitly warn of inevitable political violence.
