Speaking to reporters from the White House on Friday, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre likened Republican voters and those who supported former President Donald Trump to “fascists” and said that “MAGA Republicans” have taken away rights and freedoms.
Jean-Pierre’s remarks are the latest in a series of attacks from the White House, comparing Republican voters and Trump supporters “fascists” and “extremists.”
KJP: "What MAGA Republicans have done...You look at the definition of fascism and you think about what they're doing in attacking our democracy, what they're doing in taking away our freedoms, taking away our rights, our voting rights. That is what that is." pic.twitter.com/pqQMYANMi5
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 26, 2022
The reporter who posed the question to Jean-Pierre pointed to the fact that President Joe Biden used the term “semi-fascism” in a speech on Thursday about the midterm elections in November.
In her remarks, Jean-Pierre defended the president and said he was “clear” and “powerful” in his remarks slamming “MAGA” Republicans.
REPORTER: "The president yesterday suggested that Republican ideology is veering towards 'semi-fascism...' More than 70 million Americans voted for Trump in 2020. Does he not respect those voters?"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 26, 2022
KJP: "I think he was pretty clear and he was very powerful last night." pic.twitter.com/HOYctuzY2I
“Look, what the president said last night was that when it comes to MAGA Republicans, when it comes to the extreme, ultra-wing of Republicans, they are attacking democracy,” Jean-Pierre said. “They are taking away rights and freedoms. They are using threats of violence.”
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Pro-abortion organization Jane’s Revenge promised a “summer of rage” after the overturn of Roe v. Wade, and attacked a slew of pro-life pregnancy centers and organizations. In many cases, the organization threatened violence, spray-painting phrases such as “if abortions aren’t safe, then you aren’t either.”
In the midst of the attacks on pregnancy centers, Biden told reporters that pro-abortion supporters should “keep protesting.”
But, in Biden’s remarks on Thursday, he took aim at “MAGA Republicans,” calling them a “threat to democracy” ten weeks ahead of the midterms.
“What we’re seeing now is either the beginning or the death knell of an extreme MAGA philosophy,” Biden said. “It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins [Republicans], I’m going to say something, it’s like semi-fascism.”
“If the MAGA Republicans win control of the Congress, it won’t matter where you live. Women won’t have the right to choose anywhere,” he said. “MAGA Republicans don’t have a clue about the power of women. Let me tell you something, they are about to find out.”
“In this moment, those of you who love this country, Democrats, Independents, mainstream Republicans, we must be stronger, more determined and more committed to saving America than the MAGA Republicans are destroying America,” Biden claimed.
Not only since the Roe overturn, but since he took office in 2021, Biden and his administration have labeled Republicans as domestic “extremists,” among other things.
Townhall covered how the National School Boards Association sent a letter to President Biden claiming that parents who want a say in their children’s education are the equivalent to “domestic terrorists.” Shortly after, the Department of Justice released a memo indicating the FBI would get involved – exactly what NSBA requested in its letter to Biden.
In the months leading up to the letter, parents across the country voiced their frustration at school board meetings over curriculum in schools, including Critical Race Theory and lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity. In addition, parents voiced their disapproval with mask mandates and other COVID-19 measures impacting their children’s learning.
Last month, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who is on the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the FBI regarding "disturbing" conduct at the bureau about reclassifying cases as "domestic extremism" even if they do not qualify as such.
"We continue to hear from brave whistleblowers about disturbing conduct at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. From recent protected disclosures, we have learned that FBI officials are pressuring agents to reclassify cases as 'domestic violent extremism' even if the cases do not meet the criteria for such a classification. Given the narrative pushed by the Biden Administration that domestic violent extremism is the 'greatest threat' facing our country, revelation that the FBI may be artificially padding domestic terrorism data is scandalous."
In 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland tied the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing to the 2021 Capitol riots when unveiling the Justice Department’s response to Biden’s anti-domestic terrorism plan.
Since then, the DOJ explained to the House Judiciary Committee that the spike in “domestic violent extremism” incidents since 2020 has about doubled as a result of the prosecutions of those involved in the events on Jan. 6, 2021.
“That number, that jump, doubling, that number does include the Jan. 6 cases, and there, of course, we have over 800 arrests of individuals — not all of them are characterized as domestic violent extremists, to be clear, but many are, and those do account for at least a significant portion of that jump over the past two years in the number of investigations,” Matt Olsen, the assistant attorney general spearheading the DOJ’s National Security Division, told the House Judiciary Committee.
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