‘It’s Like Semi-Fascism’: Biden Says the ‘Extreme MAGA Philosophy’ Is Either Nearing the End or Is Just Beginning
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President Joe Biden said the political movement that catapulted former President Donald Trump into the White House in 2016 is either dying or is still in its infancy.
Biden addressed Democratic Party donors at a private fundraiser in Maryland Thursday evening, Politico reported. He addressed the ideology shared by former President Donald Trump and his supporters.
“What we’re seeing now is either the beginning or the death knell of extreme MAGA philosophy,” Biden said, per a press pool report obtained by Politico.
After he categorized many Republicans as “extreme,” the president added, “It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the—I’m going to say something, it’s like semi-fascism.”
Biden also accused Trump of diminishing the country’s standing abroad.
“I underestimated how much damage the previous four years had done in terms of America’s reputation in the world,” Biden said.
He also touted an unspecified number of domestic policy achievements and the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Thursday was not the first time Biden has invoked the so-called “MAGA” ideology in a pejorative sense. In May, Biden reframed Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan as “ultra MAGA.”
As he criticized Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) economic plan as “extreme,” Biden said, “It’s a MAGA agenda, all right. Let me tell you about this ultra-MAGA agenda – it’s extreme, as most MAGA things are.”
The following month, the president used the ultra-MAGA term on Twitter.
Folks, let’s get one thing straight: The ultra-MAGA agenda has always been about taking away women’s rights, in every single state.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 29, 2022
Biden has also referred to Trump as the “MAGA king.”
“Under my predecessor — the great MAGA king — the deficit increased every single year he was president. The first year of my presidency, the first year, I reduced the deficit, literally reduced the deficit by $350 billion, first year,” Biden said in May.
