Donald Trump and Republicans in his “make America great again” (Maga) movement represent an extremism “that threatens the very foundation of the republic”, US president Joe Biden has said.
In a primetime speech in Philadelphia on Thursday night, Mr Biden said equality and democracy were under assault.
The president said the main opposition Republican Party was dominated, driven and intimidated by Mr Trump. He said that represented a threat to the country.
However, Mr Biden said not every Republican or even a majority of Republicans followed the Maga ideology.
Mr Biden said Maga Republicans did not respect the constitution of the United States and were “a “clear and present danger to our democracy”.
He said democracy could not survive when one side believed there were only two outcomes to an election — “either they win or they were cheated”.
“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.
“History tells us that blind loyalty to a single leader and a willingness to engage in political violence is fatal to democracy,” Mr Biden said.
He said supporters of Mr Trump considered rioters who attacked the US Capitol on January 6th last year to delay the official certification of the presidential election result as being patriots rather than insurrectionists.
“For a long time,” he said, “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.”
The president particularly condemned violent rhetoric including threats against election workers and FBI agents in the wake of the raid on the home of Mr Trump to search for classified documents.
“We cannot allow it to prevail”, Mr Biden said. “You’ve heard it more and more, talk about violence as an acceptable political tool in this country. It’s not. It can never be an acceptable tool. There is no place for political violence in United States. None. Period.”
Mr Biden said Americans were are “not powerless in the face of these threats”.
“We are not bystanders in this ongoing attack on democracy. There are far more Americans ... from every background and belief who reject the extreme Maga ideology than those that accept it.”
The president said he believes the country was at an inflection point to “determine the shape of everything that’s to come after”.
“Together, we can choose a different path,” he said. “This is a nation that rejects violence as a political tool. We do not encourage violence. We are still an America that believes in honesty, decency and respect for others.”
Maga Republicans, he said, “do not respect the constitution” and want to take the country “backwards.” He called them “insurrectionists and election deniers” who “embrace anger and thrive on chaos”. Most of all, he said, Maga Republicans are a “clear and present danger to our democracy.”
Mr Biden’s speech came on the day that Mr Trump suggested that if re-elected to the White House he would pardon and provide an official apology to those convicted for involvement in the attack on the Capitol on January 6th.
“I mean full pardons with an apology to many,”, he told conservative radio presenter Wendy Bell on Thursday. “I will be looking very, very strongly about pardons, full pardons.”
