Biden gives 'soul of the nation' prime-time address ahead of midterm elections

While Biden spent much of his speech railing against MAGA Republicans and positioning them as a major existential threat to America’s political project, he stopped himself from going a step further and, with equal force, calling out the social forces this movement feeds off — chiefly, white supremacy.

“No matter what the white supremacists and extremists say, I made a bet on you, the American people, and that bet is paying off,” Biden said towards the end of his speech, in a coy and singular reference to what ideologically underpins the MAGA movement. 

Biden may not have wanted to alienate purple and red Americans who, one would imagine, do not enjoy being identified as racists. But in the absence of identifying the threat of white supremacy, he reinforces fears amongst civil rights activists and progressives that the ideology’s pernicious and pervasive effects will prevail. And the stakes are simply too high. 

“Political violence has always been the answer for white supremacists,” as Elie Mystal, justice correspondent at The Nation, noted after the speech.

In a rousing speech, in the city where the Constitution was debated and developed — a backdrop he referenced early on — President Biden spoke to the idea of what it means to be American. He spoke to the threat facing our democracy from political violence and extremist ideology. He drew a contrast with the past, a place where medical birth control didn’t exist and marriages were limited by the government. And he pointed to a future of hope.

The soaring rhetoric was needed for the soul of the country, for people to hear the language of freedom and democracy be used to advance civil rights, not restrict them. But how does Biden plan to protect any of that progress with a Supreme Court packed with originalists and a slate of federal judges poised to assert states’ rights over everything?

It was good for Democrats’ electoral prospects for Biden to recite the litany of recent legislative accomplishments, ranging from infrastructure to climate change. But legislative action to codify Roe v. Wade failed, with some Democratic senators helping the bill’s demise. Congress has yet to pass a voting rights bill that restores access to the ballot that was commonplace for decades.

White House executive action has simply not been enough to deliver abortion access in states, and Biden’s speech can’t defend against a Supreme Court that refuses to recognize the racist actions of local election boards. In a moment of diminishing rights, in a pivotal election year, the rhetoric needs to be matched with realistic plans that go beyond “vote harder.”

Biden began his speech connecting this political moment to some of the biggest threats in American history, making reference to other defining moments, such as the Civil War, the Great Depression and the civil rights movement. In doing so, Biden paints MAGA ideology and those who espouse it — both focal points for the speech — as amongst the nation’s greatest existential threats. 

“We are not powerless in the face of these threats,” Biden said, offering a counter to Trumpian politics and positioning himself as the antidote to one of the nation’s greatest existential threats. 

“This is a nation that rejects violence as a political tool,” Biden declared early in his speech. He soon added, “There is no place for political violence in America.”

He underscored the point a week after the Economist and YouGov published a poll saying 43% of Americans believe the country is likely to see civil war in the next decade.

Security analysts and experts warn of an increasing risk of violence at the same time as Republicans such as Sen. Lindsey Graham make thinly veiled threats of violence, related to the potential prosecution of Donald Trump.

“This [violence] is brewing just below the surface,” former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes after the speech. Biden clearly sought to tap into growing fears of civil unrest and offer Americans an alternative option.

Wow, that speech was pretty short! Nice!

You mean … Biden doesn’t want to stick around and talk about his favorite Fox News segment from the night before? Or which C-list actor tweeted a nice thing about him? Or toilets? Or about which big, strong man burst into tears over merely being in his presence? 

The differences between Biden and Trump truly are countless. In all seriousness, though: I’m grateful this speech was short and direct. Best not to bury the lede when the point you’re making is that there’s an imminent threat endangering American democracy.

Biden went strong on optimism, which Americans sorely need right now. Authoritarianism stokes negative emotions — anger, fear, pessimism — so that people will feel hopeless. That is the terrain of the demagogue, who says “I alone can fix it.” 

Biden spoke as a democrat, not an autocrat. He spoke about kindness, understanding and empathy, and said, “We can fix this together.” These are welcome words from an American president.

Remarkable that a sitting president, in a prime-time address about what it means to be American, had to deliver a set of lessons designed for kindergarten. Effectively, “don’t be a sore loser, you won’t win them all.” And “control your anger, stop lashing out.” 

Biden directly connected individual negative feelings and listening to conspiracy theories with a mob launching an insurrection. Biden wrapped this message in facts about rising political violence, election denialism and references to Trump’s inauguration speech about American carnage. But ultimately, his message is one of basic self-control, the lessons we expect our children to learn in elementary school, but somehow get abandoned by adults along the way.  

Now just waiting for Biden to tell MAGA supporters to take a deep breath and count to four. 

Really liked this passage from Biden, reminding people that Trump’s ideology is widely unpopular.

“While the threat to American democracy is real, I want to say as clearly as we can: We are not powerless in the face of these threats. We are not bystanders in this ongoing attack on democracy. There are far more Americans — far more Americans — from every background and belief who reject the extreme ideology.”

President joe biden

I think the MAGA movement often portrays itself as being larger than it is, as a tactic to deter opposition. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s claim that prosecuting Trump would lead to “riots in the streets” is a prime example. We know fear can have an immobilizing effect, and I think reminding Americans that we’re actively determining our destiny — not just bystanders watching it unfold — is important.

Biden began his speech tonight on the threat to the “soul of the nation” represented by pro-Trump Republicans by promising to be frank.

The Republican Party, the president insisted, is “dominated by MAGA Republicans” and “that is a threat to our country.” While careful to note that not all or even most Republicans fit this description, those who do “do not respect the Constitution” or the “rule of law.” They “do not recognize the will of the people,” and they are working “to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies.”

Some of this accurately describes a faction of American voters on both ends of the spectrum, though Biden chose not to quantify the number because it is unquantifiable. That admission alone lowers the temperature on what the White House clearly hoped would be a white-hot call to action. The idea that giving “power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies,” like, say, secretaries of state, has been a bipartisan project for years. Dressing up a boilerplate campaign trail speech as though it was an epochal address about the fate of the nation — in a midterm election year, no less — strikes an apoplectic tone that isn’t matched by America’s empirical circumstances.

Biden was, however, admirably honest when he confessed to failing the American public. “Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal,” Biden declared. When he declared his intention to run for president in Philadelphia over three years ago, Biden essentially promised the public that he would restore the sense of normalcy America lost in the Trump years.

“The country is sick of the division. They’re sick of the fighting. They’re sick of the childish behavior,” the president said at the time. And the restoration of the status quo ante, in Biden’s view, required ditching the antagonism Donald Trump and his movement embraced.

“Some of these people are saying. ‘Biden just doesn’t get it,’” the candidate had said. “You can’t work with Republicans anymore. That’s not the way it works anymore… I’ve worked across the aisle to reach consensus. To help make government work in the past. I can do that again with your help.”

If that vision of what constitutes normal is defunct, then Biden’s critics were right.