Joe Biden: Trump and Followers Are Undermining American Democracy
(CNN) — President Joe Biden delivered his sharpest rebuke yet of Republicans and their fealty to his predecessor in an evening speech in Philadelphia on Thursday, alleging they "thrive on chaos" and warning their attempts to undermine democracy could devolve into violence."They live not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies," Biden said in front of Independence Hall, harnessing the historic setting to call for a reckoning on the movement led by former President Donald Trump.It was a strident and urgent call to Americans months ahead of midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
Biden's remarks, while billed as an official address, were starkly political in nature despite the presence of usually apolitical symbols like the United States Marine Band and two Marines who were positioned in a spot where they were on camera throughout the speech.He painted a dark portrait of his political opponents, saying Trump and his followers are threatening the entire American experiment."As I stand here tonight, equality and democracy are under assault," Biden said in front of Independence Hall. "We do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise."Biden attempted to separate Trump's most loyal followers from the Republican Party as a whole.
And as he concluded, he sought to strike an optimistic note, saying it was still within voters' power to rein in the nation's darkest forces.But the heart of Biden's address was a roaring siren about what he called "an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.""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," he.
