President Joe Biden delivered a primetime speech on Thursday (September 1) in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. President Biden slammed former President Donald Trump and his supporters in a fiery speech that was interrupted at several points by hecklers in the crowd.
"We must be honest with each other and with ourselves: Too much of what's happening in our country today is not normal," Biden said. "Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic."
Biden made a point to differentiate between Trump supporters and the Republican party.
"Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology. I know because I've been able to work with these mainstream Republicans," Biden said. "But 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."
Biden said that MAGA Republicans continue to embrace the lies told by Trump and said they want to move America backward.
"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," Biden added.
"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," he continued.
President Biden said that Americans must stand up and defend democracy.
"For a long time, we've reassured ourselves that American democracy is guaranteed. But it is not. We have to defend it. Protect it. Stand up for it. Each and every one of us," Biden said.