The inflammatory rhetoric of President Biden's Thursday night speech in Philadelphia continues to evoke reactions. As The Floridian covered, few Democrats spoke of the speech, at most simply echoing the term "MAGA Republicans" Biden used throughout the address. Republicans, on the other hand, were understandably angry.
On Sunday, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL-19) tweeted that the "MAGA agenda" is hardly the fascist takeover of the United States that Biden and Democrats make it out to be. Achievements he cites include 7 million less food stamp recipients, the US becoming a net energy exporter, and a huge spike in homeownership among African-Americans.
DEMs want you to believe that the "MAGA agenda" is a threat to Democracy.
The agenda & results:
🇺🇸Lifted nearly 7M people off of food stamps.
🇺🇸Black homeownership ⬆️to 46.4 percent.
🇺🇸The U.S. has become a net energy exporter.
🇺🇸Approved the Keystone XL and Dakota pipelines.— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) September 4, 2022
"DEMs want you to believe that the "MAGA agenda" is a threat to Democracy. The agenda & results:
- Lifted nearly 7M people off of food stamps.
- Black homeownership [up] to 46.4 percent.
- The U.S. has become a net energy exporter.
- Approved the Keystone XL and Dakota pipelines," tweeted Donalds.
Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL-25), on the other hand, tweeted her support of the President's speech the day before.
"MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election..." - @POTUS
We must protect our democracy. #VoteBlue2022 https://t.co/qt0kat4Hin
— Debbie Wasserman Schultz (@DWStweets) September 3, 2022
""MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election..." - @POTUS We must protect our democracy. #VoteBlue2022," she tweeted.
Such divisive rhetoric is likely a means of stirring up voters for the 2022 elections. Former President Trump, his affiliates, and supporters have long been labeled threats to democracy or insurrectionists or what have you.
However, hearing these words from the sitting President in such an angry manner who had run as a unifier, and cast in a blood-red light, may mobilize voters in the opposite direction. The efficacy of a "red-wave" in 2022 has been under scrutiny in the past several days, but Biden's infamous Thursday night speech is certainly generating enough reactions to at least make Republicans viable in the midterms.
