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President Biden repeatedly slammed Donald Trump and “MAGA Republicans” in an overtly political primetime address the White House billed as “the battle for the soul of the nation” — a speech ignored by all major TV networks and carried by just two cable channels.
With a heckler relentlessly shouting, “F–k Joe Biden” throughout the 24-minute speech, the president called “MAGA Republicans” and supporters of his predecessor and potential 2024 rival Donald Trump a threat to “the republic.”
“Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” Biden said feet from Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
“There’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans. And that is a threat to this country.”
“They’re entitled to be outrageous. This is a democracy,” Biden said about 20 minutes into his speech as the heckling continued, audible on the official White House video feed.
“Good manners is nothing they’ve ever suffered from,” he cracked.
The speech was carried live by few TV outlets. Only CNN and MSNBC ran the remarks live. ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, Fox News and Fox Business did not air it.
Biden spoke after his press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at an afternoon briefing that “it’s not a political speech” and that “he’s going to talk about uniting the people of this country who believe in equality and democracy.”
But Biden cast aside that pretense of steering clear of politics by mentioning Trump by name three times and his MAGA — or Make America Great Again — political movement 12 times.
“MAGA Republicans have made their choice. They embrace anger. They thrive on chaos. They live not in the light of truth, but in the shadow of lies. Together, we can choose a different path,” Biden said.
The commander in chief spoke before a military band and a crowd of supporters as he said that Republicans are plotting to manipulate elections in their favor.
