Biden Says Trump and ‘MAGA Extremists’ Threaten Democracy in Speech Honoring McCain
Summary from the AllSides News Team
In a Thursday speech, President Joe Biden again framed former President Donald Trump and “MAGA extremists” as intimidating the Republican Party and threatening democratic institutions.
Key Quote: “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy because they want to break down institutional structures,” Biden said, echoing his 2022 speech in front of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall.
On Republicans: Biden added that “democracy is not a partisan issue,” saying, “Not every Republican – not even the majority of Republicans – adhere to the extremist MAGA ideology. I know because I’ve been able to work with Republicans my whole career. But there is no question that today’s Republican Party is driven and intimidated by MAGA extremists. Their extreme agenda, if carried out, would fundamentally alter the institutions of American Democracy as we know it.” Biden also announced funding for a library to honor the late Sen. John McCain.
Who Exactly Was Biden Criticizing? Right and left-rated media sometimes differed in how narrowly they framed the target of Biden’s criticism. For instance, the Washington Times (Lean Right bias) said Biden “condemned Trump supporters” – potentially including you, the reader – thereby framing his earlier appeal to bipartisanship as hypocritical. On the other hand, Axios (Lean Left bias) said Biden warned against Trump’s “brand of conservatism” – a movement, not people themselves. The New York Times (Lean Left bias) narrowed it further, saying Biden “issued a broad and blistering attack” against Trump himself. More broadly, coverage from the right was much more likely to focus on a climate protester who heckled Biden.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Biden offers dire warnings about Trump, accuses mainstream GOP of ‘deafening’ silence
President Joe Biden issued one of his most dire warnings yet that Donald Trump and his allies are a menace to American democracy, declaring Thursday that the former president is more interested in personal power than upholding the nation’s core values and suggesting even mainstream Republicans are complicit.
“The silence is deafening,” he said.
During a speech in Arizona celebrating a library to be built honoring his friend and fierce Trump critic, the late Republican Sen. John McCain, Biden repeated one of his key campaign themes, branding the “Make America...
From the Center
Biden warns Trump, 'MAGA' movement threaten American democracy
President Joe Biden launched a wide-ranging attack on Republican Donald Trump on Thursday, warning that his predecessor is a threat to American democracy and drawing a sharp distinction between himself and his likely 2024 election opponent.
To make his most extensive critique of Trump this year, Biden, a Democrat, chose an event to honor the late Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, a former presidential candidate, fighter pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war who Trump had denounced as "not a war hero."
"There is something dangerous happening in America," Biden...
From the Right
Biden denounces Trump supporters as ‘extremists’ in speech urging bipartisanship
President Biden on Thursday urged Americans to come together and unite regardless of their political affiliation but condemned Trump supporters as an “extremist movement” bent on destroying bedrock American institutions.
In a somber speech from Tempe, Arizona, Mr. Biden issued an impassioned denunciation of former President Donald Trump and the Make America Great movement. He cast the MAGA movement as an existential threat to the nation’s rule of law. He said it was “breathing oxygen” into hate.
“There is something dangerous happening in America. There is an extremist movement that...
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