According to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, President Biden’s anti-Trump and anti-MAGA remarks in Philadelphia were “not political.” She also stated that having Marines in uniform in the background was not problematic. Those comments occurred during a White House press briefing.
In Philadelphia, Biden said during his speech that the current Republican Party is “dominated” by “MAGA Republicans.” “As I stand here tonight, equality and democracy are under assault. We do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise,” Biden declared. “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.”
Every aspect of the speech, from its setting to its content, was criticized by Republicans and conservative media figures. “Joe Biden is the divider-in-chief and embodies the current state of the Democratic Party: one of division, disgust and hostility toward half the country,” a statement from Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, said.
However, Jean-Pierre argued that “Standing up for democracy is not political. Denouncing political violence is not political. Defending rights and freedom is not political. He believes that is important for him to speak very loudly, to have actually the loudest voice when it comes to our democracy. And so for him, this was not a political speech.”
Biden, speaking at a summit on his coronavirus relief plan, rejected the idea that his problem was with Trump supporters or with the entirety of the Republican Party. He told reporters that he is mainly criticizing “anybody who calls for violence and fails to condemn violence.” Biden went further and said that “not every Republican, not even a majority of Republicans are MAGA Republicans.”
He added that “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.” Biden said that “MAGA Republicans” do not “respect the Constitution” and “do not believe in the rule of law,” said Fox News.
“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,” Biden said. After being questioned by Fox News’ Peter Doocy whether he considers every Trump supporter a threat to the country, Biden claimed that “I don’t consider any Trump supporters a threat to the country.”
“When people voted for Donald Trump, and support him now, they weren’t voting for attacking the Capitol, they weren’t voting for overruling an election. They were voting for a philosophy he put forward,” Biden stated last week. “I am not talking about anything other than, it is inappropriate … the failure to recognize and condemn violence when it is used for political purposes. Failure to condemn the manipulation [of] election outcomes,” he declared.
“It’s time to take a stand.” As Jean-Pierre said voters should keep this in mind when casting their votes in November, without explicitly saying so, which would violate federal law. “It’s time to take action.”
