Biden Hits Back at Critics of His MAGA ‘Threat to Democracy’ Tear In Michigan Speech: They’re ‘Destroying American Democracy’

MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

President Joe Biden hit back at critics of his recent blistering barrages against “MAGA forces” who are a “threat to democracy,” ticking through the ways they fit the definition in his view.

President Biden has been pressing the attack ever since he made waves two weeks ago with a major speech that was largely a rebuke of former President Donald Trump and those who support the insurrection that culminated in the attack on the Capitol on January 6. Opponents and media figures criticized the speech as “political” or “divisive.”

On Wednesday afternoon, the president took to the stage in the Portside Ballroom of Detroit’s Huntington Place convention center for a Michigan Democratic Party fundraiser for Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Biden hit Republicans on a number of fronts, including their proposed nationwide abortion ban, then addressed criticism of his remarks about “MAGA Republicans”:

Extreme Republicans don’t just threaten our personal rights and economic security, they embrace political violence. Just look at January 6th — what they’re saying. They refuse to accept the will of the people. Look at them pushing the Big Lie, continually.

They threaten our very democracy. I get criticized — I’m not going to take the time, but I got criticized for saying they’re a threat to democracy. Well, a threat to democracy can almost be defined by saying: If you call for political violence or you defend it, and you don’t allow for the legitimate transfer of power, that’s when democracy is at risk.

To this day, they defend those who stormed the Capitol on January the 6th. Folks, you can’t be pro-ex- — pro- insurrection and pro-democracy.

You can’t say you support law enforcement — (applause). You can’t say you support law enforcement and say the people who attacked — the people who attacked the Capitol on January 6th are patriots. A number of cops ended up dying.

That’s why those who love this country — Democrats, independents, mainstream Republicans — we got to be stronger, more determined, more committed to saving American democracy than the extreme MAGA Republicans are to destroying American democracy. We have to organize, we have to mobilize, and we have to vote. Get out and vote. (Applause.)

Biden has previously clarified that he was not targeting Trump voters in his remarks.

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