Joe Biden assumed the presidency with a promise that he would heal the wounds of a society whose outgoing president had gone to unprecedented extremes by defying election results, including attempted insurgency. For months he ignored his predecessor, but the time for concessions is over. On Thursday evening he traveled to Philadelphia and in front of the building where independence was declared and the Constitution was written, the President of the United States made a fierce attack on Donald Trump and his followers, whom he calls MAGA (the motto Make America Great Again, translatable as “make America great again”) by stating that they “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of the republic”.
In the 24-minute speech, Biden reaffirmed that “a battle for the soul of the nation” is underway. Because? Because according to the Democrat, “the Republican Party is dominated, led and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans,” which is “a threat” to the country.
In front of the building where independence was declared and the constitution was written, Biden recalled that democracy cannot be taken for granted.
“The MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of free elections, and right now they are at work, state after state, to give electoral decision-making power in America to militants and acolytes, to give power to electoral deniers to undermine democracy itself”.
For example, in the state where he spoke, Pennsylvania, Republican governor candidate Doug Mastriano attended the January 6 meeting at the Capitol. If elected, he promises to appoint a secretary of state who will defend his ideas, Vox reports.
In the speech, intended to be broadcast live in prime time, but the beginnings of which could only be seen on the stations of the Sinclair group (owner of hundreds of channels, including many local employees of ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox), Biden recalled that, in addition to the danger surrounding the polls, there is a campaign to promote political violence. For example, Senator Lindsey Graham, who once convicted Trump for the Capitol Hill riots, has now said that if the former president faces criminal charges, there will be riots.
“There is no place for political violence in America, period, never,” said Biden, who shortly afterwards left another strong sentence: “We cannot be pro-insurgents and pro-Americans. They are incompatible.” The president also said that on the other hand, “MAGA troops are determined” to bring the country “back to an America where there is no right to choose, there is no right to privacy, there is no right to contraception, there is no right to marry the one you love”.
The Democrat kicked off November’s midterm elections, in which his party could lose a majority in Congress. While Trump remains in the news for the worst of reasons — the dozens of classified documents found in his home by the FBI — Biden has set his sights on an economic recovery despite inflation, and polls are beginning to show relief.
Republicans complained about the tone of the speech and the appropriation of a historic building and Marines, reminding Democrats that Trump hosted a Republican convention at the White House in 2020 and Marines attended.
Source: El heraldo
