President Biden Thursday evening cast Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans as a threat to the Constitution intent on "destroying American democracy."
"Today, there are dangers around us we cannot allow to prevail," Biden said, accusing Trump and his supporters of wanting to use violence to attack the nation's democratic institutions.
Biden, during a speech in Philadelphia, said the nation was at an inflection point and Americans need to declare," This is not who we are." He suggested that MAGA Republicans are seeking to overthrow the current system. "We cannot be pro-insurrection and pro-American," he said. "Stop the assault on American democracy"
Biden compared Trump, who may well be his opponent should he seek reelection, to other autocrats in history who have subverted democracies. "History shows us that blind loyalty to a single leader . . . is fatal to democracy," he said.
While saying many Republicans do not support Trump, Biden said, "The Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans."
Republicans Thursday said President Biden's speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia assailing Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters as insurrectionists was little more than a political broadside demeaning his political opposition and many Republican voters.
Many took to Twitter to make their point.
"That was a campaign speech under the guise of a presidential address," tweeted Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. "Instead of focusing on issues impacting Americans, Biden demonized half the country to distract from his failures."
"The 'Unity President' views his political opponents as domestic terrorists," said Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina.
"More than 61% of my district in Southwest Florida would identify as a “MAGA Republican,” & I can assure you they’re some of the most hardworking, freedom-loving, proud Americans I’ve ever met," said Rep. Byron Douglas of Florida. "The president might hate you, but I love you, & I’ll always fight for our Republic."
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas suggested Biden had displayed some autocratic impulses himself.
"Joe Biden has tried to override the voting laws of every state in the Union, destroy the filibuster, and attacked the Supreme Court," he said. "He has no right to lecture others about destroying our institutions."
President Biden was loudly heckled as he spoke about what he said was the threat to democracy posed by Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters.
Biden, during remarks at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, was frequently forced to compete with someone yelling at him through a bullhorn.
At one point, loud chants of "F**k Joe Biden" could be heard clearly in the background as the president spoke.
The president referenced the hecklers more than once, saying they are "entitled to be outrageous, this is a democracy." But he suggested they lacked common sense and quipped, "Good manners is nothing they've ever suffered from."
Fox News' Tara Prindiville contributed to this post.
{{#rendered}}Fox News obtained a preview of prepared excerpts from President Biden's upcoming speech Thursday evening in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during which he will slam "MAGA forces" and vow to stand up for American democracies.
"So tonight I have come here to the place where it all began to speak plainly to the nation about the threats we face. About the power we have in our own hands to meet those threats. And about the incredible future that lies in front of us if only we choose it," the prepared remarks state.
"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," the president will continue.
"For a long time, 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," he will say.
Fox News' Pat Ward contributed to this report.
A senior White House official says that President Biden's Thursday speech will be "optimistic," on the future of the country, Fox News' Patrick Ward reports, but that the president will hammer those he sees as a threat to American democracy.
"This is an optimistic speech where he will speak about how he believes we can get thru this current moment," the senior White House official said. "He will also talk in a very direct way... about the direct threat to the democracy and the extremism that is a threat right now to democracy."
The official said those threats include, "A movement that doesn't believe in free and fair elections," and "A movement that is talking about violence in response to actions that they don't like or don't agree with."
Republicans, meanwhile, say Biden is smearing Americans who don't agree with him.
"When the President speaks tonight at Independence Hall, the first lines out of his mouth should be to apologize for slandering tens of millions of Americans as ‘fascists,'" House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is expected to say in a prebuttal to Biden's speech, according to remarks obtained by Fox News' Haris Alic.
That comment is a response to a recent statement from Biden accusing Republicans of embracing "semi-fascism."
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is expected demand President Biden apologize for allegedly attacking Republican voters during a campaign swing through Scranton, Pa., Thursday.
"Instead of trying to bring our country together to solve these challenges, President Biden has chosen to divide, demean, and disparage his fellow Americans – simply because they disagree with his policies," McCarthy, R-Caif., is expected to say, according to excerpts of the speech obtained by Fox News Digital.
"When the President speaks tonight at Independence Hall, the first lines out of his mouth should be to apologize for slandering tens of millions of Americans as ‘fascists,'" McCarthy is expected to add.
That comment is a response to a recent statement from Biden accusing Republicans of embracing "semi-fascism."
To read more from Fox News' Haris Alic, click here.
{{#rendered}}President Biden is expected to deliver a blistering attack on Republicans during a prime-time address from outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
Biden will journey to the birthplace of the U.S. Constitution Thursday to lay out what Democrats see as an indictment of the GOP.
The remarks are expected to be a darker version of the speech Biden often gave on the 2020 campaign trail, comparing the election to a battle for the "soul of the nation."
Biden hinted at the tone and substance of the speech during a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Tuesday when accusing Republicans of abandoning the rule of law.
To read more from Fox News' Haris Alic, click here.
Coverage for this event has ended.