Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Richard Harris is executive director of the Truth & Liberty Coalition. We seek to educate, unify and mobilize believers in Jesus Christ to affect the reformation of nations through the seven mountains of cultural influence.

Joe Biden’s recent speech at the nation’s birthplace in Philadelphia, attacking more than 70 million Americans who voted for his political rival, Donald Trump, has sent shockwaves through a nation already sharply divided.

His message, styled, “The Continued Battle for the Soul of the Nation” brazenly and explicitly cast Donald Trump and his supporters as illegitimate, intolerable people who have no role in our civic process. He claimed, without citing a single bit of evidence, “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”

Biden has been rightly called out by many for the crassness and divisiveness of his speech. In truth, however, his speech was far more dangerous than mere crassness. Biden actually followed the classic template used by dictators throughout the centuries when assuming totalitarian power, following the proven three-step formula of Mao Tse-Tung, Josef Stalin, and Adolf Hitler, 

Biden first demonized his political opponents, falsely accusing them of plotting violent insurrection, threatening “our nation” and even democracy itself. Like Hitler with “the Jews,” Stalin with “the Nazis,” and  Mao with “the intellectuals,” Biden lumped his enemies into a single, amorphous and evil mass now called “MAGA Republicans.” Without ever actually saying what a “MAGA Republican” is, Biden claimed, “the Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans, and that is a threat to this country.” He repeatedly continued to label and defame millions of his fellow Americans, casting them as enemies of everything good and decent:  

MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution.  They do not believe in the rule of law.  They do not recognize the will of the people. . . . 

MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards — backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love. . . .

They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country. . . .

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. . . .

Next, he cloaked himself in patriotism, both with words and eerie red-lit symbolism. He linked himself to freedom-loving Americans (in contrast to those evil MAGA Republicans), and  egotistically postured himself to be a guardian of freedom and America’s way of life. 

I speak to you tonight from sacred ground in America: Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is where America made its Declaration of Independence to the world more than two centuries ago with an idea, unique among nations, that in America, we’re all created equal. . . .

So tonight, I have come to this place where it all began to speak as plainly as I can to the nation about the threats we [meaning, Biden and everyone else except “MAGA Republicans”] face, about the power we have in our own hands to meet these threats, and about the incredible future that lies in front of us if only we choose it. We must never forget: We, the people, are the true heirs of the American experiment that began more than two centuries ago. We, the people, have burning inside each of us the flame of liberty that was lit here at Independence Hall—a flame that lit our way through abolition, the Civil War, Suffrage, the Great Depression, world wars, Civil Rights. That sacred flame still burns now in our time as we build an America that is more prosperous, free, and just.  That is the work of my presidency, a mission I believe in with my whole soul. . . .

I know this nation. I know you, the American people. I know your courage. I know your hearts. And I know our history. . . .

Then, Biden promised that he (and the government under his control) would do whatever was necessary to prevent MAGA Republicans from threatening democracy. Flanked by two United States Marines in dress blues, Biden promised, 

I will not stand by and watch—I will not—the will of the American people be overturned by wild conspiracy theories and baseless, evidence-free claims of fraud. I will not stand by and watch elections in this country stolen by people who simply refuse to accept that they lost. I will not stand by and watch the most fundamental freedom in this country—the freedom to vote and have your vote counted—and—be taken from you and the American people. Look, as your President, I will defend our democracy with every fiber of my being, and I’m asking every American to join me. [Applause]

The hypocrisy of Biden’s charge of “political violence” is stunning in light of the bona fide, widespread actual violence committed in America’s cities for months on end in 2020 by the Left’s constituent groups, including Antifa and Black Lives Matter. That actual violence received hardly any criticism from Biden or his Democrat colleagues. His own vice president, Kamala Harris, even contributed to a fund that bailed out rioters from jail. Democrats called the rioters “peaceful protesters” who were merely exercising their First Amendment rights.  Democrats across the nation blamed the police for the violence and defunded them.

Speaking of hypocrisy, if one could remove the defamatory tirade against Trump and his supporters from Biden’s speech, the remaining rhetoric was so pro American and conservative in substance that it would sound like a Reagan Republican at a Lincoln Day dinner. 

Biden’s speech left the nation wondering—other than unsubstantiated claims of “political violence”—what is it exactly that makes so-called MAGA Republicans such a threat, anyway? Is it the desire for election integrity? Is it the desire to enforce our immigration laws at the border? Or, perhaps it is the desire that we stop our descent into socialism and return to free enterprise in this nation. Could it be the demand that America’s interests be placed first by our elected officials? Maybe MAGA Republicans are to be feared because they want America’s military strong and ready to defend our interests around the world? Or, is it the desire that our nation be independent and not subservient to world powers and organizations?   

What we do know is that Biden’s attack on Trump and his supporters is deeply troubling, not only because of what he said, but because of its timing. The speech follows the recent, unprecedented FBI raid on Mar-A-Lago and the specter of Trump being prosecuted for alleged violations of the espionage act in Washington, DC—a Democrat stronghold where it would be almost impossible to find a neutral jury. 

Second, the Democrats recently authorized the hiring of 87,000 new IRS agents and purchased hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition. We know that Biden’s old boss, Barack Obama, used the IRS to target conservative organizations and we have no reason to suspect that Biden would do any less. Recent appointments at the IRS can only lead Americans to believe there is no other justification for the doubling in size of the IRS and none has been put forward by Democrats.  

Third, it is clear the Department of Justice has been deeply politicized, as seen in many examples. From turning a blind eye to leftist rioters to labeling concerned parents as domestic terrorists, to the Mar-A-Lago raid, Merrick Garland’s charges have repeatedly displayed bias toward anyone who does not toe the Democrat Party line.

Fourth, Biden’s speech was evidently part of a larger, choreographed messaging plan that has been manifesting over the last few months. First, there was the kangaroo show-trial called the January 6 Committee. Also, Biden’s narrative has been playing on liberal news outlets including a major article on CNN. Others in the legacy and mainstream media have been repeating similar claims. 

All of this is why I believe the speech was the most dangerous speech by a president that I have ever heard. It cannot be ignored or sugarcoated. At best, it was wildly irresponsible and reckless. At worst, it was an intentional and designed attempt to lay the groundwork in public opinion for an oppressive assault against conservatives. It is not hard to foresee the Biden administration using the IRS and other government agencies against “MAGA Republicans,”  justified by the false claim that they pose a threat to the nation.

We should not be comforted by the fact that Biden is old, frail, and finds it hard to speak coherently. This speech was not written by Biden. It was written for Biden. What is alarming is that the same extreme leftist power brokers that got him into office appear ready now to use the powers of government against their political enemies.

Americans everywhere must decry Biden’s remarks. We must come together and universally condemn the use of the IRS and law enforcement for political purposes. We must condemn the labeling and defamation of political opponents in this fashion. And we must elevate again the First Amendment, freedom of speech, assembly, and the right to express dissenting views.

Faith can win out over fear when we resist lies and manipulation, and stand for the values we hold dear. This constitutional republic will stand strong when people of conscience resist provocation. 

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