Gutfeld: Biden prepares 'soul of nation' event but may have 'sold' his soul
Greg Gutfeld and the panel on 'The Five' sounds off on Biden's indictment of 73 million Trump voters.
President Biden is expected to double-down on his assertion that people who support Trumpism subscribe to "semi-fascism" in his Philadelphia speech Thursday dubbed "soul of the nation" – which Fox News host Greg Gutfeld called an ironic tagline.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre further said Thursday the president "must have struck a nerve" with Trump supporters who are "trying to hide," and the "ultra-MAGA officeholders [who] want to play games and dodge accountability for their extreme proposals and actions."
Gutfeld suggested Biden, who identifies as a Roman Catholic, should take some introspection instead of doubling down on divisive allegations against half of the population he is supposed to represent.
"It's got to be hard for Joe to reconcile the fact that he claims he's a staunch Catholic, yet he believes that the Roe v Wade turnover [by the Supreme Court] is somehow a threat to the soul of America," he said. "Hasn't he sold his soul to the pro-abortion lobby? How can you talk about the soul of America?"
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President Joe Biden and Jill Biden speak with a priest as they depart after Mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Montchanin, Del. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A recent National Review commentary said Biden has had an evolving view on abortion from the time he first took Senatorial office in 1973 – suggesting as he defeated a Republican in Sen. J. Cale Boggs, R-Del., he tacked a more center-right stance when he said the Roe v. Wade decision that year "went too far."
Biden has at times been refused Communion by Catholic clergy who believe his pro-choice advocacy violates Scripture. A South Carolina priest named Fr. Robert Morey caused controversy in 2019 when he denied Biden the Eucharist.
When asked by PBS about the incident, Biden called it a "private matter," but said he was upset Morey reportedly "went to the press about it."
Meanwhile, Biden's hometown diocesan leader, Wilmington Bishop William Francis Malooly, has said he will not deny Biden the rite; claiming it would "politicize the Eucharist."
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President Joe Biden delivers remarks. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
On "The Five," Gutfeld further expounded on Biden's decision to double-down on his rhetoric:
"President Biden is getting ready to smear half the country as a bunch of semi-fascists for his ‘soul of the nation’ speech -- subjecting Americans to another rambling lecture on how evil MAGA Republicans are," he said.
"It is interesting that word ‘soul,’ isn't it?" co-host Dana Perino added. "The position that he used to have would have been [abortions should be] safe, legal, rare. Right? But now the Democratic position is actually extremely extreme, which is a legal abortion up until the point of birth."
Gutfeld added that, while the White House considers the Independence Mall speech as an official – rather than campaign – event, the president is expected to focus on divisive campaign-style rhetoric and not "policies like crime or inflation."
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Abortion-rights protesters gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, June 24, 2022. ((AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana))
"He's going to go after this amorphous threat. Right. A large looming kind of quasi-terror group that perhaps he could pin all of the country's problems on," he said.
Later pushing back on co-host Jessica Tarlov's reaction to the news, Gutfeld said many liberals are "smearing a large group of people because of one day (January 6)."
"Where were you guys when people's buildings were being burned down, when dozens of people were killed, when neighborhoods were -- you guys didn't say a damn thing because it was your side doing it. So enough of this stuff about January 6 --there's nobody on the right that thinks that's a good thing," he argued.
Tarlov had criticized the fact Trump condemned the reported continued imprisonment of some January 6 suspects who are still awaiting trial during an interview with Pittsburgh radio host Wendy Bell.
Tarlov said Trump's comments to Bell appeared to reveal he is "financially supporting" some defendants while condemning the Biden Justice Department's treatment of them.
Host Brian Kilmeade countered that Biden is simply trying to remain rhetorically centered on Trump and Trumpism.
"How about berating people and in terms of just dredging up their soul? It's unbelievable that he is going to do this," he said.