President Biden will deliver a speech to the nation concerning the “continued battle for the soul of the nation” on Thursday.
Biden will deliver the remarks from Independence National Historic Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The site includes Independence Hall, where the Founding Fathers debated and drafted the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre explained, “President Biden will give a primetime speech … on the continued battle of the soul of the nation … He will speak about how the core values of this nation, our standing in the world, our democracy are at stake.”
She continued to suggest that “he will talk about the progress we have made as a nation to protect our democracy but how our rights and freedoms are still under attack and how we will make clear who is fighting for those rights, fighting for those freedoms, and fighting for our democracy.”
Independence Park will close some of its facilities as early as 3:00 p.m. in preparation for the address later that evening.
This move comes shortly after Biden denounced some Trump supporters, those adhering to an “extreme MAGA philosophy,” as participants in “semi-fascism” in remarks delivered at a fundraiser in Maryland last week.
“It’s not just Trump,” he suggested, “it’s the entire philosophy that underpins [them].”
The moderate Republican governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu, expressed disapproval of Biden’s comments, saying, “When we allow ourselves just to talk in these extremes, we polarize the country.”
Sununu continued, recalling Biden’s campaign promise “to bring everybody together. And then to call half of America fascists? … He owes an apology. That’s not appropriate. That isn’t leadership.”
Biden’s comments not only received criticism from various Republican politicians but also from left-leaning observers like CNN anchor John Avlon, who suggested, “The term semi-fascist is not helpful; it’s not befitting the office of president.”
Following Biden’s “semi-fascist” comment, the Seminole County Republican Party office in Florida was vandalized. The words “Eat s— fascists” were spray-painted on the exterior.
Press Secretary Jean-Pierre defended Biden’s comments, stating:
“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.”