WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said “MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards” in a prime-time address to the nation Thursday, urging Americans to “stand up” to defend democracy and “choose a better path forward.”
Biden warned that “equality and democracy are under assault,” singling out former President Donald Trump by name and his supporters who have denied the results of the 2020 presidential election. He called it his “duty to level with you to tell the truth” as he accused Trump’s followers of fanning political violence.
“Too much in our country is not normal,” Biden said in a 24-minute speech from outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia. “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”