The White House and its allies defended Sunday President Biden’s speech on MAGA threats to democracy after the address drew howls of rage from Republicans.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) recounted her experience during the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the U.S. Capitol to second Biden’s Thursday night remarks.
“I believe that our democracy is at risk today,” Murray said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I was in the nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6. I wasn’t able to escape. I was barricaded in an office. And I heard the pounding at the door, and I heard those who were outside of it willing to use brute force incited by President Trump to take over our country.
“We still have people today saying there will be violence on the streets,” she continued. “That is not what a democracy is. And we all have to point that out and work to make sure we move towards a democracy and keep that democracy,” she added.
Murray appeared to be referring to inflammatory comments from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who recently predicted “riots in the streets” if former President Donald Trump is prosecuted over his handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
Biden last week said the “extremism” of Trump and his followers “threatens the very foundation of our republic.”
The comments, with the president trashing the GOP for succumbing to Trumpism. marked a shift from the message of unity Biden sounded during his inauguration speech.
“Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal,” Biden said in Philadelphia. “There’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans.”
Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Sunday applauded the speech.
“Two of the hallmarks of a fascist political party are, one, they don’t accept the results of elections that don’t go their way. And two, they embrace political violence,” he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“And I think that’s why President Biden was right to sound the alarm.”
Trump recently called for a “rerun” of the 2020 election, which he falsely claims he won.
“That’s totally outside of the Constitution,” scoffed Raskin, a member of the special House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot.
Last week, Republicans slammed Biden’s speech as divisive.
“Biden promised to unite the nation. Instead, he’s isolated and vilified conservative Americans,” tweeted Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) went on a tirade against Biden and his policies.
“You give a speech attacking most of the good, hard working people in my district and about political violence that does not exist,” tweeted the MAGA maven. “The only thing Americans have to fear are your policies that have destroyed our economy, spiked crime & murder rates to terrifying levels.”
A senior White House adviser doubled down Sunday on the president’s remarks.
“This hate-fueled agenda, this MAGA Republican agenda that we saw incite violence on our nation’s Capitol has no place in a democracy,” Keisha Lance Bottoms said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“The president has always stood on the fact that he can work with mainstream Republicans to get things done on behalf of the American people,” she added. “But it’s also going to take for all of us to stand up to hatred and what the president again continues to say [is] this MAGA agenda.”
With News Wire Services
