‘Destroying Democracy’: Biden Doubles Down On ‘MAGA Republican’ Criticism In Labor Day Speech

Breaking Business ‘Destroying Democracy’: Biden Doubles Down On ‘MAGA Republican’ Criticism In Labor Day Speech Alison Durkee Forbes Staff Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Sep 5, 2022, 05:13pm EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline President Joe Biden continued to go after “MAGA Republicans” and followers of former President Donald Trump in a speech Monday in Wisconsin, continuing his sharp attacks on the more conservative wing of the GOP after Republicans have broadly criticized his comments and Trump attacked Biden over the weekend as an “enemy of the state. ” President Joe Biden speaks to a gathering of union workers at Laborfest on September 05, 2022 in .

. . [+] Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Getty Images Key Facts Speaking at a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Biden criticized the “MAGA Republicans, the extreme right, the Trumpies,” saying “MAGA Republicans in Congress have chosen to go backwards, full of anger, violence, hate and division. ” The president attacked GOP lawmakers in Congress for all voting against policies he and Democratic legislators have enacted like the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act, saying that while some supported the substance of the legislation, they “couldn’t let Biden have a victory. ” He also argued MAGA Republicans “are coming for your Social Security,” pointing to a Senate campaign plan drafted by the GOP that calls for Congress to vote on the future of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid every five years.

Biden called out Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis. ), who’s running for reelection in November, as one of the “MAGA Republicans,” saying he “never stops” and criticizing Johnson for saying that January 6 was “by and large, a peaceful protest.

” The president assailed lawmakers for downplaying the January 6 attack and defending the rioters, arguing “there’s no democracy where you can be pro-insurrection and pro-democracy” “Not every Republican is a MAGA Republican” who “embraces that extreme ideology,” the president emphasized, noting that he’s “been able to work with mainstream Republicans my whole career. ” Crucial Quote “We have to be stronger and more determined and more committed to saving American democracy, than the MAGA Republicans and that guy [who are] destroying democracy,” Biden said Monday. “Because democracy is at stake.

” Chief Critic Republicans have broadly criticized Biden for going more sharply after Trump and his supporters in recent days, including the ex-president himself, who criticized Biden’s speech Thursday at Independence Hall in Philadelphia as “the most vicious, hateful, and divisive speech ever delivered by an American president. ” “The enemy of the state is him and the group that control him,” Trump said onstage at a rally in Pennsylvania Saturday. Big Number 19%.

That’s the share of U. S. adults who identify as “part of the MAGA movement,” according to a CBS News poll conducted August 29-31.

Key Background Biden has ramped up his criticism of Trump and his followers in recent days, describing the ex-president’s “philosophy” as being “like semi-fascism” in a fundraiser speech on August 25 before his Philadelphia speech Thursday that accused MAGA Republicans of “represent[ing] an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic. ” “The Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans, and that is a threat to this country,” Biden said, arguing they “do not believe in the rule of law. ” Biden’s comments, which stood in contrast to the president’s previous hesitance to sharply attack Republican colleagues, were widely denounced on the right.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif. ) called for Biden to apologize after he “[chose] to divide, demean, and disparage his fellow Americans,” for instance, while Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.

) criticized the president as a “raving lunatic,” former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley called him “condescending” and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga. ) likened Biden to Adolf Hitler.

(Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has not commented on the speech. ) The White House has denied accusations that the speech, delivered with Marines stationed behind him, was overtly political, with Deputy Press Secretary Chris Meagher tweeting , “Democracy is not a political or partisan issue. ” Further Reading Biden Castigates MAGA Republicans In Scathing Speech Against Trumpism (Forbes) Biden calls Trump’s philosophy ‘semi-fascism’ (Politico) Donald Trump: What we learned from his rally in Pennsylvania (BBC News) Follow me on Twitter .

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