WATCH LIVE: Biden to Declare Trumpism a Threat to Democracy in Prime Time Address
President Joe Biden will give a speech in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Thursday night, where he is expected declare Trumpism a threat to democracy in his continued “battle for the soul of the nation.”
The speech is scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Biden’s speech will take place outside of Independence Hall, where he will lay out his thoughts on extreme ideologies that pose a threat to democratic values and America’s institutions. This speech is expected to be a continuation of Biden’s denouncement of “MAGA Republicans” as he accuses former President Donald Trump and those who remain loyal to him of perpetuating anti-democratic extremism.
The White House released excerpts from the speech earlier on Thursday. Biden is expected to say, “So tonight I have come here to the place where it all began to speak plainly to the nation about the threats we face. About the power we have in our own hands to meet those threats. And about the incredible future that lies in front of us if only we choose it.
“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.”
The speech comes amid a recent series of events where Biden intensified his political rhetoric by likening the Trump-MAGA political movement to “semi-facism.” Sources indicate Biden will address election-denialism, the uptick in violent political speech around the country, and shall portray the 2022 midterms as a crossroads for America’s sociopolitical future.
Critics of Biden argue that the president is casting aside the pledge of unity he championed as he ran for office. Biden’s defenders say the president is being honest about a threat to democracy from the Republican Party, while others like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) are accusing Biden of broadly insulting millions of Americans.
Despite Biden’s increasingly-strident talking points, a White House official insisted to AP that Biden intends to speak “not as a Democratic president, but as a president of a democracy.”
“The official said that Biden would acknowledge the importance of political disagreements in a country as diverse as the U.S.,” the AP reports, “but aim to draw a line at rhetoric and actions that call into question the health of the country’s democracy.”
Watch above via NBC.