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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Sunday that President Biden’s controversial "MAGA Republicans" speech last week sought to distinguish between mainstream Republicans and the "extreme" Trumpian ideology that has "taken over" the party.
During an appearance on MSNBC’s "The Sunday Show," host Jonathan Capehart asked Jean-Pierre about the president’s fiery speech at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on Thursday and whether there is a difference between "mainstream Republicans and those who follow Donald Trump."
"He believes so," Jean-Pierre said of the president, "and he made that very clear in his speech as well. Look, what you heard from the president on Thursday, he was speaking from the heart about what is currently happening – this inflection point, as he called it, in this country. We need to continue, and he is going to protect our democracy, protect our values, protect our freedoms, protect our rights, and he sees that all of those things that I just laid out are under assault."
The White House press secretary said the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the slew of "extreme legislation from MAGA Republicans," and the overturning of Roe v. Wade showed that the "MAGA ideology" is not just a small faction of the Republican Party.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily news conference at the White House on Aug. 9, 2022. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
"Go read the speech if you haven’t," she said. "It is powerful, it is impactful, and you will hear directly from the commander in chief what he was speaking to. And he actually called out mainstream Republicans, Democrats, independents, to come join him to help fight to protect our democracy. So it was about a specific, particular, extreme, extreme part of the party that has taken over."
Jean-Pierre’s comments came after Biden insisted in his speech Thursday that "not every Republican, not even the majority of Republicans, are MAGA Republicans."
"But there is 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, referencing Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.
President Biden delivers remarks on what he calls the "continued battle for the soul of the nation" in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Sept. 1, 2022. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)
"Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic," he later added. "MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of the law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election."
"Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are a threat to the very soul of this country," Biden added in a tweet Thursday night.
Former President Donald Trump responded by calling it the most "vicious" speech ever given by an American president.
Former President Donald Trump delivers remarks at a Save America rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 3, 2022.
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"This week, Joe Biden came to Philadelphia to give the most vicious, hateful, and divisive speech ever delivered by an American president," Trump told a raucous crowd on Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, while campaigning for Republican candidates in the commonwealth. "Vilifying 75 million citizens, plus another probably 75 to 150 if we want to be accurate about it, as threats to democracy and enemies of the state. You’re all enemies of the state."
Trump continued, "He’s the enemy of the state if you want to know the truth."
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