Chris Hayes and Rep. Gallego discuss Biden's rhetoric toward Republicans
Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said President Biden's "been holding back because he is a man of goodwill."
Rep. Ruben Gallego D-Ariz., spoke on Tuesday's episode of "All In with Chris Hayes" about President Biden saying Trump supporters' ideology is "like semi-fascism" at a Thursday fundraiser in Maryland.
MSNBC host Chris Hayes recalled the event to his guest, asking, "What do you make of the president seeming now to talk about this much more explicitly, much more clearly, using terms like 'semi fascist' to describe the most hard-core supporters of the MAGA movement? Are you glad to see that?"
Gallego affirmed that he was "glad to see that," adding, "I think the president has been holding back. He’s been holding back because he is a man of goodwill and he wants to give people the benefit of the doubt."
A man said he was assaulted while walking around Tucson wearing a "Make America Great Again" cap. (iStock)
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"I saw the Republicans for who they were on January 6, not all of them, but we saw what happened on January 6 can tell you a lot," said Gallego.
"I also saw how they were here in Arizona, trying to actually take away the right for us to vote for U.S. senators back in 2011. So this has been kind of a creeping level of slow-moving fascism that has been really injecting the Republican Party for a while," he continued.
He suggested that this shift has been a major departure from Republican leadership of the past, especially in Arizona.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the grounds of Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., January 11, 2022. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
"Unfortunately the portion of the Republican Party, the McCains of the Republican Party, that were really believing in the idea of democracy have been pushed out by the party," he lamented. "This is why we are in a situation that there are people voting for Republicans not knowing that they are really voting for someone who may not want to have popular elections anymore."
Biden has not held back and used controversial rhetoric towards his political opponents before, such as when Democrats attempted to pass a voting rights bill that would overhaul the U.S. election system.
The late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, accompanied by Joe Biden, waves as he takes the stage before receiving the Liberty Medal in Philadelphia, Monday, Oct. 16, 2017. (AP)
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"Do you want to be on the side of Dr. King or George Wallace? Do you want to be on the side of John Lewis or Bull Connor? Do you want to be on the side of Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis?" Biden asked at the time, comparing Republicans who opposed the bill to historic racists and segregationists.
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