Biden addresses nation with stern warning about the future of the nation’s democracy

In some of his sharpest language since taking office, Biden took square aim at the so-called MAGA Republicans who do not recognize the results of the 2020 election and who have espoused violence as a legitimate means of political discourse.

The moment created a stunning split screen with that movement’s leader.

Just hours earlier, the latest hearing played out in a Florida courtroom over the boxes of classified documents found in Trump’s Palm Beach estate. A federal judge indicated she would consider temporarily barring Justice Department investigators from reviewing seized materials. Hours before Biden forcefully addressed election deniers and the rise in political violence, his predecessor was defending Jan. 6 rioters. He vowed, should he run and be re-elected, to offer “full pardons” and a formal apology to those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in an effort to overturn the results of the election and now face charges.

A senior White House official earlier had cautioned the night was not about any particular politician, including Trump, but Biden wasted no time repeatedly calling him out by name — something he was once loathe to do. He noted that not every Republican is a “MAGA Republican,” but said “there’s no question the Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans, and that is a threat to democracy.”

Standing in front of Independence Hall, the cradle of American democracy, Biden told the crowd: “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.”

“For a long time, we’ve reassured ourselves that American democracy is guaranteed. But it is not. We have to defend it. Protect it. Stand up for it. Each and every one of us,” Biden said.

Aides stressed that the speech, given just days before the unofficial Labor Day kickoff to the stretch run of the midterm campaign season, would not be overtly political. But it was difficult to read it as anything other than Biden’s attempt to frame the stakes of an election once again dominated by Trump after an FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago home turned up classified information and intensified talk of possible criminal charges for the former president.

And earlier in the day Trump turned the focus once again to Jan. 6 as he told a radio show he would support the very Jan. 6 rioters now facing charges. “I will look very, very favorably about full pardons. If I decide to run and if I win, I will be looking very, very strongly about pardons,” Trump told the Wendy Bell show. “I mean full pardons with an apology to many.”

Trump said he met with Jan. 6 defendants earlier this week at his office and said he will be financially supporting some of them.

On Thursday, former New York Police Department officer Thomas Webster was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his violent assault of a Capitol police officer on Jan. 6. It was the most severe sentence handed down yet for any involvement in the insurrection.

In Philadelphia, Biden’s speech focused on the “continued battle for the soul of the nation,” the principle he cited as the animating force for launching his third — and ultimately successful — bid for the White House. Biden made clear that he believes some mainstream Republicans reject Trump’s ideology, those like Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who lost a GOP primary after serving on the House Jan. 6 select committee. And the president urged others in the GOP to finally turn their backs on Trump.

Republicans are also turning to Pennsylvania to make their arguments for the midterms. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy gave a prebuttal to Biden’s speech in Scranton, and tried to flip the script by claiming Democratic policies are an “assault on Democracy.” On Saturday, Trump will hold a “Save America” rally in support of Republicans he endorsed, including gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano and Senate candidate Mehmet Oz. Mastriano, a Trump loyalist, has particularly helped lead efforts in the state to overturn the 2020 race — a win by him would place an election denier in control of certifying a key battleground state’s slate of presidential electors.

Biden, currently basking in the glow of a series of significant legislative wins, has ratcheted up his attacks on Republicans in recent weeks. He has denounced Republican support for the Jan. 6 rioters, deemed some in the GOP as “semi-fascists” and on Thursday roared that “there is no place for political violence in America. Period. None ever.