The US leader called on Americans of all stripes to help confront the dark forces he described within the Republican Party as trying to undermine democracy. “A lot of what’s going on in our country today is not normal,” he said in a speech Thursday to an audience of hundreds, raising his voice against Trump supporters. “There is no doubt that the Republican Party today is dominated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans,” using the acronym for Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.” Treading into dangerous political territory, President Biden sought to balance his criticism with a call for more traditional Republicans to make their voices heard. The prime-time speech in Philadelphia, the birthplace of American democracy, marked a sharp U-turn for President Biden as midterm elections for Congress approach. His comments Thursday, decrying political violence and urging bipartisan compromise, followed speeches in recent days in which he condemned the MAGA philosophy as “semi-fascism” and called Republican threats against the FBI following a search of Trump’s Florida home as “degrading”. Some experts have warned that losing control of Congress would not only make President Biden a lame-duck president, but also hand control of certifying the results of the next presidential election to Trump supporters, some of whom have never accepted victory. of 2020 and who have pledged to revise the voting systems. President Biden addressed the concerns, saying, “I’m not going to stand by and watch elections in this country get stolen by people who just refuse to accept that they lost.” Read more: Photo released of top-secret documents revealed in FBI search of Trump home
Joe Biden at his most political and slyest
President Biden has previously avoided calling Donald Trump by name, instead referring to him as “my predecessor” or “former president.”
But against the backdrop of Philadelphia’s dramatically lit Independence Hall, where the US Constitution was debated and signed by America’s founders, President Biden was full-throated and unflappable.
“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our democracy,” he said.
This was Joe Biden at his most political and cunning. The president and the Democratic Party calculated that the best chance for success in the upcoming midterm elections and beyond is to focus on Donald Trump and what they called his “most extreme supporters.”
In doing so, it forces Republican candidates in the midterm elections to declare their support for Donald Trump.
By focusing so heavily on the Republican Party, President Biden risks alienating voters who may think it’s a cynical move to distract from more everyday issues facing Americans, like high prices at the supermarket and the gas pump.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders immediately accused him of merely promoting political division.
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said President Biden was ignoring crime and inflation to criticize his fellow citizens.
“Instead of trying to bring our country together to solve these challenges, President Biden has chosen to divide, belittle and discredit his fellow Americans,” he said.
“Why? Simply because they disagree with his policies.”
