Biden asks Republicans to shun 'MAGA' in November, vote Democrat
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[August 26, 2022]
By Steve Holland
ROCKVILLE, Md. (Reuters) -U.S. President
Joe Biden had harsh words to describe Trump-allied Republicans on
Thursday, as he held his first political rally in the run-up to November
elections, accusing the group of embracing violence and hatred, and
saying they edged toward "semi-fascism" at an earlier fund-raising stop.
Biden, kicking off a coast-to-coast tour, is looking to lend his support
to Democratic candidates and prevent those Republicans from taking
control of Congress by touting the sharp differences between the two
major U.S. parties, and calling on independent and Republican voters for
help.
“It’s not hyperbole now you need to vote to literally save democracy
again,” Biden told an above-capacity crowd of several thousand at a
Democratic National Committee event at Richard Montgomery High School in
a Maryland suburb of Washington.
"America must choose. You must choose. Whether our country will move
forward or backward,” he said.
“Trump and the extreme MAGA Republicans have made their choice – to go
backwards full of anger, violence, hate and division,” he said, warning
they "refuse to accept the will of the people."
Since the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol, some Donald Trump
supporters have repeated his lie that the 2020 election was stolen and
threatened election workers.
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In Maryland's Montgomery County, where more than 78% of voters chose
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in 2020, Biden the stage to ask
"Democrats, independents and mainstream Republicans" to join together to
commit to the future.
Before the rally, Biden met Democratic donors for a $1 million party
fundraiser in a backyard in a leafy neighborhood north of Washington.
Strolling with a handheld mic, Biden detailed the tumult facing the
United States and the world from climate change. He spoke about economic
upheaval and the future of China and was strongly critical of the
direction of the Republican Party.
"We're seeing now either the beginning or the death knell of an extreme
MAGA agenda," Biden said, referring to former President Donald Trump's
"Make America Great Again" slogan. "It's not just Trump. ... It's almost
semi-fascism," he said.
BIDEN AGENDA ON THE LINE
Republicans are hoping to ride voter discontent with inflation,
questions about Biden's policies and cultural resentment from its
majority-white base to victory in November, and they have history on
their side. The party that controls the White House usually loses seats
in Congress in a new president's first midterm elections, and political
analysts predict Republicans have a solid chance of taking control of
the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate.
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![](../images/082622PIX/news_t8.jpg)
U.S. President Joe Biden holds a
marching band leader baton while talking to people as he
participates in a Democratic National Committee rally at Richard
Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland, U.S., August 25,
2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
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Democrats hold only a thin majority in the House, while the Senate
is evenly divided, with the vice president's tie-breaking power
giving Democrats control.
Republican control of one or both chambers could thwart Biden's
legislative agenda for the second half of his four-year term. Heavy
losses could also intensify questions about whether Biden should run
for re-election in 2024 or hand over to a younger generation.
But Biden and his team are increasingly hopeful that a string of
recent legislative successes, and voters' outrage at the Supreme
Court's overturning of the 1973 ruling that recognized women's
constitutional right to abortion, will generate strong turnout among
Democrats.
The announcement this week that Biden would use an executive order
to alleviate student loan debt led to GOP legislators and activists
to criticize it as a handout. But on Thursday, the White House noted
on Twitter that each had benefited from much larger debt
cancellations under the coronavirus pandemic “PPP” loan program.
The rally in Maryland was promoted by groups including women's
health provider Planned Parenthood and anti-gun violence activists
Moms Demand, as Democrats lean on a new gun safety law and
Republican-backed abortion bans to improve their midterm prospects.
Democrats want Biden's trip to boost the president's poor poll
numbers and draw attention to his achievements. But some candidates
for Congress worry that campaigning with Biden will hurt them in the
Nov. 8 election.
Biden, whose latest approval rating is 41%, is polling lower than
most, if not all, Democratic candidates in competitive races, often
by double digits, Democratic pollsters said.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Leslie Adler, Rosalba
O'Brien and Gerry Doyle)
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