What is wrong with Joe Biden? How did the man who promised to return us to normalcy and unite the country end up labeling roughly half of Americans as a “threat to democracy”?
I know some of you will point out his qualification that not “all” or even a “majority” of Republicans are “MAGA Republicans,” but he quickly abandoned that somewhat narrow view by claiming anyone who was pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, and pro-constitutional originalism was in that group. Of course, that would include me and most Republicans and Conservatives.
And yet, Biden claimed most of his career to be pro-life himself; he was also against gay marriage until roughly 2014. So, I guess he would’ve been a MAGA Republican until very recently, at least by his own stupid definition. But, logical consistency was never Biden’s strong suit.
Take his charge that we “do not respect the Constitution.” This, coming from a man who just subverted constitutional order to unilaterally grant student loan forgiveness. This, coming from a party whose leading lights have talked about abolishing the electoral college, packing the Supreme Court, and dismissing the Constitution itself as an out-of-date tool of the white supremacist patriarchy.
He also said we do not “respect the rule of law.” Huh? His own party condoned the riots of 2020 and sat on their hands while protestors broke the law by demonstrating in front of SCOTUS justices’ homes. Kamala Harris famously contributed to a fund to bail out the rioters, whose damage to various communities totaled hundreds of millions of dollars and resulted in 16 deaths.
And we can’t forget the moronic and self-destructive refrain of “defund the police” that was adopted by a significant portion of the Democratic establishment and is still being practiced in cities like Seattle that seemingly want to destroy themselves in the name of racial equity.
The most egregious thing about this most extreme of presidential speeches was how Biden directly attacked voters of the opposition. Usually, political candidates reserve their insults for their direct opponents. It’s usual for them to say “this guy’s a jerk; don’t vote for him” while assuming the good will and intentions of the voters.
In Biden’s case, he has assumed that half of America has very bad intentions, including wanting to “take this country backward” and believing that “that everyone has to fail” in order for them to succeed.
Look, I know I’ve voiced my criticisms about Democratic policies and Leftism, but I always aim my shots at the politicians and activists, not the people themselves, whose good sense I assume and appeal to. But even if I didn’t do that, I’d still just be a dad with a laptop expressing a single opinion. But for him, as president, to violate this basic tenet of politics and common decency and attack the voters themselves is beyond the pale.
If Biden, or his fans in the media who cheered this sad, angry speech, paid any real attention, they would see several things that mitigate strongly against his toxic worldview. First, members of his own party cast doubts on the results of the 2000 election and then the 2016 election as well. Why does doubting the electoral process, especially when it was so drastically modified in the months leading up to the election, constitute a treasonous crime? Heck, Stacy Abrams still thinks she won in 2018.
Second, the major conservative voices in our culture are not “MAGA” supporters. The Wall Street Journal editorial pages, National Review, Ben Shapiro, and many other mainstream conservative voices have always been very critical of Trump and the Jan. 6th rioters. Republicans themselves such as Mike Pence and Mitch McConnell ensured the election was ratified on Jan. 6th in spite of the craziness in the Capitol.
This idea that we’re all in thrall to Trump, that he “dominates” the party like some kind of Peronist demagogue is just not true. Yes, he’s influential, but even then, most people who support him do not fit within Biden’s self-serving caricature.
But even if one did still doubt the fairness of the 2020 election, that does not make them a “threat to democracy” any more than Stacy Abrams is, especially if they are merely a citizen with an opinion.
Our president has labeled people enemies of the state for simply having opinions he does not like, opinions which he once had himself.
So, the question is, why did he do it? Does he really believe these things? After all, the day after the speech, he was taking much of it back (only to reassert it again a few days later). I think this was simply a cynical ploy to distract our country from his abject failures and scare people into voting against Republicans in the midterms. In other words, this unprecedented attack on the beliefs of nearly half the country, this casting of them as enemies of the state, was done for cheap political points.
If Biden truly believed such vile things, I would be worried about his mental wellness, but at least he’d be sincere. But it’s hard to believe he does and so his charges and fomenting of political hatred and fear is nothing more than a ploy to keep his party in charge. He, like many other Democrats, is willing to tear down this country in order to keep power.
That, my friend, is the real threat to our democracy.
Trey Hoffman
Peachtree City, Ga.
You are correct about one thing, Trey–I am, indeed, going to point out exactly what President Biden said, qualifying his comments. Not for your benefit, but your readers–
“Now I want to be very clear–very clear up front: Not every Republican, not even the majority of Republicans, are MAGA Republicans. Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology. I know because I have been able to work with these mainstream Republicans.” (Biden Sept 1 2022)
As Visionaryjax concluded her always enlightening comments–“if the shoe fits, right?”
Sadly, Trey, over the years you have left very little doubt where you stand on political issues–very comfortably in your MAGA jackboots.
You may at your peril minimize and equivocate as much as you like. Under no circumstances should a sitting US President ever openly condemn any single part of the electorate for failing to ideologically align with him.
Why this is dangerous: according to polls, between 86% and 92% of self-identified Republican voters, and 48% to 57% of self-identified Independents identify with the MAGA agenda as defined by stances on border security, trade policy, tax policy, election reform, and limiting the size and scope of the Federal Government.
So despite Biden’s “not all Republicans” backpedal, he did in fact attempt to marginalize a vast swath of the American electorate. He’s not living up to his promise to unify by any stretch of the imagination. And were the shoe on the other food, you would be livid.
This was Biden’s “very fine people” moment.
A few questions for Def. or any other offended Republican:
Since “MAGA republican” appears to be an offensive descriptor to you, what appellation should we give to the group of republicans who wink at a bloody attempt to disrupt Congress, insist that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, and uncritically believe everything uttered by the 45th president? I’m willing to use your terminology.
Also, when did conservatives become so thin-skinned and fragile? It used to be that the liberal college students had to be coddled so as not to be “threatened” by language that could bring on psychological distress. How did conservatives become the eternal victims that must be tiptoed around to prevent their anguish?
Isn’t it time for people on every section of the political/ideological spectrum to quit looking for another way that they have been affronted?
Def you say, “he did in fact attempt to marginalize a vast swath of the American electorate. He’s not living up to his promise to unify by any stretch of the imagination.”
President Biden’s speech didn’t attempt to marginalize anyone. It attempted to wake up the (as you say) 86% of GOP 57% of Independents who are willing to give insurrectionists a pass and work for the destruction of democracy — wake you up and let you know it’s dangerously close to past the point of no return. If you pretend you like the “MAGA agenda” of closing the borders, lowering taxes on the rich, razing the environment to create flourishing trade, and making government smaller, and to get that you’re willing to support insurrection and endanger democracy, then you are, in fact, a MAGA Republican and you ought to listen to President Biden’s warnings about what you’re part of.
You say, “And were the shoe on the other foot, you would be livid.” Do you honestly think we on the left were not daily the victims of President Trump’s harsh language, cruel bullying, snide commentary, schoolyard taunts, and more, for the years of his presidency that he had access to Twitter and Fox News? Do you really compare President Biden’s righteous rebuke of the white Christian national forces that have coopted the GOP to President Trumps constant denigrating of anyone who didn’t agree with him for his entire presidency?
you must have been living in a different America than I was.
I’m glad someone was paying attention to President Biden’s speech! I HOPE the GOP leadership was, because at this point the MAGA tail is wagging that dog — whether lukewarm MAGAts like Trey want to believe it or not. So, good for you, Trey for listening to the President’s speech.
Just in case anyone is actually taking Trey’s word for anything the Presdient said (and he did NOT accuse Trey and half the GOP of being traitors — if they thought so, maybe they should examine their own hearts), here are a couple things the President DID say, and why they are demonstrably true:
President Biden said, “MAGA Republicans … refuse to accept the results of a free election. And they’re working right now, as I speak, in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.”
This is all true. Polls show some 70% of Republicans believe the 2020 election was stolen, while there is not one shred of evidence to that effect. They believe the lie because Trump and his allies continue to repeat the lie, and for no other reason (except their dissatisfaction at having lost).
Some of the candidates from the coalition of “America First” candidates that spring from this group of election-deniers have won their GOP primaries and have voiced opposition to mail-in ballot and voting machines and want to restrict voting even further. Are they a threat to democracy? Clearly. When they are just acting on what 70% of Republicans think, it’s obvious Pres. Biden was well within the bounds of truth to call them a threat and remind the rest of the GOP that they have now decided on candidates who are a threat to democracy and action ought to be taken to rein them in.
President Biden said, “I don’t consider any Trump supporter to be a threat to the country. I do think anyone who calls for the use of violence, fails to condemn violence when it’s used, refuses to acknowledge an election has been won, insists upon changing the way in which we rule and count votes — that is a threat to democracy.”
This makes sense. In 10 state races for Secretary of State, 6 of the GOP candidates could be termed MAGA Republicans by this standard. If they win in the general elections, they will be poised to throw out state election results they don’t like. Does this make them a threat to democracy? YES! FFS YES!
Several states have been trying to pass legislation that would give their legislators the power to overturn election results they don’t like, and you can bet it is not the Democrats calling for these new rules! It’s GOP all the way, and of course, it is because the new GOP led by MAGAts believes exactly what President Biden said of them in his speech: there are only two election outcomes; either they win or the election was stolen.
President Biden said, “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.”
OK, Trey takes issue with Pres. Biden’s casting these regressive views as strictly MAGA views, and in this, I agree with Trey: I am sure many Republicans who don’t worship Donald Trump still want to deny women bodily autonomy and keep LGBTQ people from their right to be married, but if I were Trey, I wouldn’t brag about that. I would, however, be ashamed of myself.
Here is the driving force of Trey’s argument here:
He takes offense at President Biden’s words because, he says, he is NOT a Trump/MAGA Republican, and so he should not be tarred with the same brush. (He whinges that the President extended the meaning of MAGA to include him and other more mainstream Republicans.)
But he is, and any Republican can be, a MAGA without worshiping Trump. He can say, “I don’t support Trump for 2024,” but as long as he still supports white Christian nationalism (abortion ban, stripping away LGBTQ right and marriage rights, restricting voting, etc.), he is still a “MAGA Republican” as President Biden defines them.
Here’s the thing. Donald Trump has become a bit of a liability to the white Christian nationalists who originally embraced him. He wants credit for the vaccine they revile, it looks like he was into selling US secrets to the highest bidder, etc. They will rally around Trump if they think he can get elected and make America white Christian nationalist, or they will rally around someone else who they believe can do that. As will, I am sure, people like Trey.
If Trey was offended by President Biden’s words, he should stop and ask himself why he was. Maybe because they hit so close to home: although he may not want Trump reinstalled as President (although it sounds like that would suit him fine!), he still has the same baseline of hopes for the USA as other MAGAts, so … if the shoe fits, right?
I share Trey’s frustration that our president has to call out citizens for threatening our republic. Like strangers that are forced to intervene with unruly children in a public place, it would be so much better if their own parents exerted some control over their offspring.
Perhaps the grown ups in the Republican party will finally chasten their unruly MAGA contingent who threaten democracy directly by staging an insurrection at the Capitol, and indirectly by denying defeat in elections and coddling authoritarians. Haven’t the inmates had control of the asylum long enough?
Spot on Trey. Joe Biden is not the person the Democratic voters thought/hoped he’d be. America is in deep trouble under his Administration.