Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany probably thought she had the perfect way to attack President Joe Biden for his criticism of MAGA Republicans who are a threat to democracy in the United States, but her plan backfired badly and wound up reinforcing what Biden had said.
The president gave a speech addressing the attack on the American republic by those allied with ex-president Donald Trump who deny the results of elections, foment violence against anyone who disagrees with them, and defend even the most vile actions of their GOP colleagues.
Biden spoke from Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, warning:
“Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
The president added:
“MAGA Republicans have made their choice. They embrace anger. They thrive on chaos. They live not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies.”
That led McEnany to try and spin the current administration as the extremist element in the country, tweeting out:
Biden announces the official position of the White House: “Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundation of our republic.”
As HuffPost notes, there’s a lot of evidence to support what Biden said:
Last year, for the first time, the U.S. was listed as a “backsliding democracy” in a report by a European think tank as a result of developments during Trump’s administration. The report said Trump’s lies about the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election were a turning point that undermined trust in the nation’s electoral process and ultimately led to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.
Since then, Trump and his allies have continued to undermine the voting process and elevate election-denying candidates, leading Biden and other Democrats to cast the 2022 midterm elections as a referendum on democracy itself.
It didn’t take long before McEnany got her comeuppance, with most respondents noting that what the president said was spot-on.
