President Joe Biden launched a direct attack on the “extremist” on Thursday Donald Trumpurging Americans to defend democracy and accusing his rival of trying to subvert institutions.
The Democratic president said in a speech in the state of Arizona that Trump was driven by a feeling of “revenge and revanchism” and who, together with his far-right allies, attacks the free press and the rule of law.
Biden has so far been careful to comment on the multiple criminal accusations against Trump, including his participation in efforts to reverse his 2020 electoral defeat.
But he didn’t hold back about the danger he said the country would be in with a second Trump term. “Democracies don’t die just at gunpoint,” he said. “They can die when people remain silent, when they do not stand up or condemn threats to democracy itself.”
“Something dangerous is happening in the United States”, he added, and maintained that the Republican Party is being “boosted and intimidated” by the sector most sympathetic to Trump. “They do not hide their attacks. They promote them openly. They attack the free press as an enemy of the people, they attack the rule of law and promote voter suppression.”