Ahead of Biden's primetime address to the nation on Thursday, the White House released three short excerpts of the president's remarks and they immediately and directly contradict what Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters earlier in the afternoon.
"MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards," Biden will say, according to the excerpts. "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," the president will add.
That's the speech that Jean-Pierre said mere hours earlier would be "optimistic" and would not be "political."
What's more, Biden's press secretary said that on Thursday night, Americans would "hear from him directly: this is not about one political party, it is not about one person in politics."
After defending calling Republicans "semi-fascists," and "MAGA extremists," Karine Jean-Pierre says "this is not about one political party." pic.twitter.com/4KYKmB4fs3
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 1, 2022
But by retreating to his new favorite trope, Biden will again attack "MAGA forces" — that is Republicans and the former president. Biden's speech is directly about one political party and one person in politics that he just can't seem to shake from his mind.
Biden will also "speak plainly to the nation about the threats we face" and "the power we have in our own hands to meet those threats" in order to "choose" an "incredible future."
"For a long time, we've reassured ourselves that American democracy is guaranteed," Biden also plans to say. "But it is not," he'll assert. "We have to defend it. Protect it. Stand up for it. Each and every one of us."
Again, these are direct political appeals for Americans to stop the supposed "threats" Biden is set to try directing the country against — the Republicans and supporters of former President Donald Trump — whom he's previously called extremist semi-fascists.
All this will come in the shadow of Independence Hall in Philadelphia when President Biden addresses the nation at 8:00 p.m. ET.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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