Joe Biden addressed the nation in a rare prime-time speech last night that targeted Donald Trump and “MAGA Republicans,” calling them a form of “extremism” that “threatens” our democracy. Trump, who is in the midst of a DOJ investigation for removing classified documents from the Oval Office, can’t be happy about this absolute pummeling by the sitting President.
In the scathing 24-minute speech from the Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Biden called Trump out by name and denounced his and his allies’ refusal to accept the 2020 election results, as well as efforts to strip away rights from the American people (to abortion, “privacy,” contraception and gay marriage) and said they do not respect the Constitution.
“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” Biden argued.
Pres. Biden, in a rare prime-time speech, condemned Donald Trump and his “MAGA Republicans” as he urged the nation to unite against threats to American democracy. https://t.co/bx2wa1s2Tq pic.twitter.com/auwFPnNAQv
— ABC News (@ABC) September 2, 2022
Biden called the “extreme ideology” of Donald Trump and his allies and the climate it has created in America “not normal” and urged Americans to see this time as an “inflection point” where they can choose to go in a different direction. While this is not the first time Biden has been openly critical of his predecessor, this speech certainly raised the temperature on his condemnation of this type of extreme conservatism.
Biden was certain to make clear that his criticisms were not directed at “all Republicans” and even quoted one: a retired federal Judge J. Michael Luttig, who had accused Trump and his allies of waging a “war on democracy” on January 6th and called Trump “clear and present danger” to American democracy.
The speech was fittingly recorded in the same spot where the Founding Fathers debated and signed the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. The location holds meaning for Biden himself. It’s where he launched his presidential campaign in Philadelphia in 2019, giving a speech that he was said running was to “restore the soul of the nation.”
“I still believe that to be true,” he told the crowd last night.
