White House says Biden has been ‘struck’ by Trump’s ‘hold’ on GOP

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Outnumbered - Wednesday, May 4

On today’s episode, Sean Duffy is ‘Outnumbered’ as Biden calls out 'Ultra MAGA Republican' agenda. Plus, comedian Dave Chappelle attacked on stage in L.A.

President Biden has been "struck" by the "hold" former President Trump has on the Republican Party, the White House said Wednesday, after he warned earlier in the day that the "MAGA crowd" is the "most extreme political organization that’s existed" in recent American history.

Biden in recent weeks has been slamming Republicans, saying the GOP "ain’t your father’s Republican Party," and saying it has, instead, shifted to a "MAGA party."

BIDEN SAYS 'MAGA CROWD' IS 'MOST EXTREME POLITICAL ORGANIZATION THAT'S EXISTED' IN RECENT AMERICAN HISTORY

Biden has warned that right-leaning politicians "who know better" are "afraid to act correctly" out of fear of losing a primary election.

"He has been struck by the hold his predecessor seems to have on far too many members of the party," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday.

Press Secretary Jen Psaki holds the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 4, 2022. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

Biden on Wednesday morning was asked about the leaked draft opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alito, which indicates the high court’s plans to strike down Roe v. Wade, which would leave decisions on abortion restrictions for the states to decide.

"This is about a lot more than abortion," Biden said, pointing to Roe as part of the right to privacy as he had Tuesday following the release of the draft opinion.

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Biden reflected on the Supreme Court confirmation process for former President Reagan’s nominee Robert Bork in the late 1980s, when he served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"This reminds me of the debate with Robert Bork. Bork believed the only reason you had any inherent rights was because the government gave them to you," Biden recalled. "When I was questioning him as the chairman, I said, ‘I believe I have the rights that I have not just because the government gave them to me, which you believe, but because I’m just a child of God — I exist.’" 

"So, the idea that somehow there is an inherent right, that there is no right of privacy, that there is no right," Biden continued. "There'd been a law saying a married couple could not purchase birth control in the privacy of their own bedroom and use it. Well, that got struck down."

BIDEN SAYS GOP 'AIN'T YOUR FATHER'S REPUBLICAN PARTY': 'THIS IS A MAGA PARTY NOW'

Biden was referring to Griswold v. Connecticut, which he said "was thought to be a bad decision, by working on, my guess is, the guys on the Supreme Court."

Former President Trump and President Biden (Getty Images)

"Now, what happens if you have states changing the law, saying that that that children who are LGBT, who can't be in classrooms with other children, is that is that legit under the way that the decision is written?" Biden asked.

"What are the next things that are going to be attacked?" He asked. "Because this MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization that's existed in American history—-in recent American history."

Psaki was asked which state the president was referring to with regard to LGBT students in the classroom. 

"We've seen extreme laws that target LGBTQ families, their kids across the country, and I think what he's saying is we don't know what they're capable of, given what they've already done to date," Psaki replied.

When pressed again on which state was taking steps with regard to LGBTQ children, Psaki said: "I think we've seen laws that are incredibly discriminatory. That's what the president's referring to." 

BIDEN ‘NOT PREPARED’ TO LEAVE RIGHT TO PRIVACY DETERMINATION TO ‘WHIMS’ OF ‘LOCAL AREAS’

"And the fact that he doesn't know what additional steps could be taken by extreme wings of the party that would rather divide rather than work on issues that the American people actually are focused on actually impacting them," Psaki said.

 An activist with The Center for Popular Democracy Action holds a photo of U.S. Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito as they block an intersection during a demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on December 01, 2021 in Washington, DC.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, when asked if he believed the issue of abortion should be left to the states, Psaki replied: "The president believes that it should continue to be federal law, that women have the right to make choices with their doctors, as it has been for 50 years."

A draft Supreme Court opinion on a case that addresses the precedence of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey was obtained and made public by Politico in an unprecedented and stunning leak from the high court late Monday.

"We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled," Justice Samuel Alito writes in the document, labeled the "Opinion of the Court" for the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives." The document is genuine but does not reflect a final ruling on case, the Supreme Court clarified Tuesday.

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Biden on Tuesday declared he is "not prepared" to leave the issue of privacy to "the whims" of the public in "local areas," warning that a draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was a "radical decision" that would jeopardize "a whole range of rights."