White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre attacked ‘MAGA Republicans’ on Monday, arguing their agenda threatens the ‘rule of law’ and saying comments from one GOP senator proved President Joe Biden’s allegation the party was ‘semi-facist.’
‘The president has been really clear that congressional Republicans – that extreme MAGA agenda that you heard him talk about last week – is a threat to the rule of law,’ she said at her daily White House press briefing.
Jean-Pierre was previewing Biden’s trip to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, when she went on the attack. The president will give a speech on supporting law enforcement that he was originally scheduled to give in mid-July before he tested positive for covid.
The White House press secretary also addressed comments that Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham made on Sunday night. He warned of ‘riots in the streets’ if Donald Trump is indicted.
She said Graham’s comments were an example of the fascism Biden spoke of in the Republican Party.
‘We have seen MAGA Republicans attack our democracy. We have seen MAGA Republicans take away our rights, make threats of violence, including this weekend, and that is what president was referring to,’ she said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre attacked ‘MAGA Republicans’ on Monday, arguing their agenda affects the ‘rule of law’
Senator Lindsey Graham has warned of ‘riots in the streets’ if former President Trump is prosecuted for his handling of classified materials
Biden, last week, accused Trump and ‘extreme’ Republicans of ‘semi-fascism’ at a fundraiser for Democrats at a posh private home in the Maryland suburbs outside of Washington D.C.
‘What we’re seeing now, is either the beginning or the death knell of an extreme MAGA philosophy,’ Biden told about 100 wealthy donors. ‘It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the – I’m going to say something – it’s like semi-fascism.’
Jean-Pierre also said comments like Graham’s are dangerous.
‘We have seen these MAGA extreme Republicans making these kinds of comments, which is dangerous,’ she said.
Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina and close ally of Trump, warned on Sunday night there will be ‘riots in the streets’ if Trump is indicted over his mishandling of classified documents.
‘Most Republicans, including me, believe when it comes to Trump, there is no law. It’s all about getting him,’ Graham told Fox News.
He compared the investigation into Trump into the FBI’s handling of Hunter Biden, the president’s son. Republicans have argued Hunter is getting preferential treatment because of his father’s position. The White House says they don’t interfere in federal investigations.
‘And I’ll say this, if there is a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information after the Clinton debacle… there will be riots in the street,’ Graham noted.
Trump is being investigated for possible violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice, an unsealed warrant revealed.
An underlying affidavit, which featured many redactions, noted the ‘government is conducting a criminal investigation concerning the improper removal and storage of classified information in unauthorized spaces, as well as the unlawful concealment or removal of government records’ adding there is ‘probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found.’
Trump has continually claimed he declassified all the documents stored at Mar-a-Lago after he left office and denies any wrongdoing.
Biden, meanwhile, has been targeting Trump supporters as he campaigns for Democrats ahead of November’s midterm election.
At a political rally in Rockville last week, Biden said Trump and MAGA Republicans were ‘destroying America.’
‘I respect conservative Republicans, I don’t respect these MAGA Republicans,’ Biden told the crowd gathered at the Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland.
Biden warned that ‘the MAGA Republicans don’t just threaten our personal rights and our economic security, they’re a threat to our very democracy.’
‘They refuse to accept the will of the people, they embrace political violence, they don’t believe in democracy,’ he continued. ‘That’s why in this moment, those of you who love this country, we must be stronger, more determined and more committed to saving America than the MAGA Republicans are destroying America.’
Biden outed Congressional Republicans who he said told him they felt they should have voted for the Inflation Reduction Act – his most recent legislative accomplishment that includes healthcare, prescription drug and climate initiatives – but didn’t, fearing political repercussions.
‘You’d think if the Republicans really cared about reducing inflation they would have voted for the Inflation Reduction Act,’ Biden said. ‘But every single Republican voted against it – even I know at least a dozen of them who thought they should vote for it, but they would be primaried for it.’
No Republican in either the House or Senate voted for the legislation.
‘Every single American needs to return the favor when we vote,’ Biden said.
President Joe Biden blasted former President Donald Trump and ‘MAGA Republicans’ for ‘destroying America’ at a Maryland rally Thursday night
Classified materials were found when the FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida
Biden went hard on the so-called ‘MAGA Republicans’ and the former president throughout his address.
‘In 2020, you and 81 million Americans voted to save our democracy, that’s why Donald Trump isn’t just a former president, he’s a defeated former president,’ Biden said.
‘Will we be a country that moves forward or backward? Will we build a future or obsess over the past? Will we be a nation of unity, of hope, of optimism, not a nation of anger, violence, hatred and division?’ he asked the crowd.
‘Trump and the extreme MAGA Republicans have made their choice. To go backwards, full of anger, violence, hate and division, but we’ve chosen a different path,’ the president said.
Biden is preparing to hit the road for Democrats when he travels to two midwest states with key contests for the midterm election on Labor Day, to rally one of Democrats’ most faithful group of voters.
The president will be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to ‘celebrate Labor Day and the dignity of American workers,’ the White House said in a statement on Monday.
Biden will attend each city’s famed Labor Day parade. Labor unions are a key Democratic constituency and Biden has long times to many workers’ unions.
Both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have competitive gubernatorial and Senate contests in November.
The president will travel to a third midwest state with a competitive gubernatorial and Senate contest – Ohio – next Thursday.
Biden is also riding high after his poll numbers have bumped up to his highest mark of the year – 44 per cent – according to a Gallup survey released Thursday.
Pollsters surveyed U.S. adults from August 1-23, a period of time in which Biden recovered from COVID-19, and a rebound infection, took out al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri and inked his name on the Inflation Reduction Act.
Some of the economic numbers also have Americans feeling better, including a decrease in the price of gas.
Democratic candidates, some of whom had been avoiding Biden when he came to their state, are flocking back to his side.
Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Tim Ryan, who was busy the last time Biden was in the state, said he would join the president when Biden is there next Thursday.
And Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman will be with Biden on Labor Day amid his battle with Dr. Mehmet Oz.
‘John will be marching in the Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh next week and he looks forward to talking to the President there about the need to finally decriminalize marijuana,’ Fetterman’s campaign said.
Fetterman will not be at Tuesday’s event in Wilkes-Barre.