Republicans slam Joe Biden’s ‘soul of nation’ speech, call it 'hate-filled and menacing'

Angry Republicans have waded into Biden's smear laded prime-time speech delivered in Philadelphia against former president Donald Trump's MAGA "forces" which, the president believes, have stood in the way of the survival of democracy in the United States. Biden has used the "soul of the nation" phrase since his 2020 campaign for strong-worded denunciation against America's what he describes MAGA movement, a "threat to democracy."

As Trump was brought back into the spotlight due to the recent FBI search executed at his Florida residence Mar-a-Lago, Biden used the opportunity ahead of the Midterm elections campaign sprint to rebuke his predecessor and to remind his Democrat support base that America is at "an inflection point."

The sitting US president, who made no major announcement or broke any news about the forthcoming elections in his address in front of the Independence Hall, instead damned his adversary for proliferating the MAGA Republican extremism. "America must choose to move forward or to move backwards," he maintained on the eve of Labor Day weekend. 

"MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards," Biden said, "backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love."

'With all due respect Mr President:' Republicans in angst

Following his speech, Prominent GOP members from Trump's Republican (Conservative) party asked Biden to apologise for insulting “one-half the country” that they insisted did not politically back him, but are still, nevertheless the Americans. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a steadfast ally of ex-Republican leader Trump tweeted: “With all due respect Mr President, there’s nothing wrong with America’s soul. The American people are hurting because of your policies.”

Rep Sen. Graham underscored the issues faced by the American public while the Democrats are in the Oval Office, pointing at “rampant inflation,” “out of control crime,” “terrorism on the rise,” and “broken borders".

Other Rep members even nicknamed Biden as President of the "war" referring to the months-long armed conflict in Ukraine and the Biden administration's incessant weapons supply over the negotiations. 

Republicans expressed angst at the hostile content in Biden's speech, as at one point while he delivered, the US president claimed that MAGA Republicans "embrace anger. They thrive on chaos. They live in the shadow of lies." He continued, "Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent extremism." Sen. Graham (R-S.C.) lambasted Biden for his antagonistic tone against the Republicans, saying: “Stop lecturing and change your policies.” 

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) tweeted, “Joe Biden’s hate-filled and menacing rhetoric tonight was disgraceful. His behaviour is increasingly erratic. And his threats against half the country ― his fellow citizens ― are dangerous.”

"MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution," Biden maintained in his "battle for the soul of the nation" speech. "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, and they're working right now, as I speak, in state after state, to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers."

Echoing Graham’s berating Twitter thread, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) wrote: “What would help the ‘soul of the nation’ much more than a condescending lecture from President Biden is getting inflation under control instead of actively spending more money to make it worse.” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who had recently concluded a trip to self-administered island Taiwan, criticised Biden's heavily political language. She iterated in a separate tweet, that Biden “attacked” Republicans “to distract from the fact his economic agenda caused inflation to reach a historic 40-year high and sent our economy into a recession.”

“When the president speaks tonight at Independence Hall the first lines out of his mouth should be to apologize for slandering tens of millions of Americans as 'fascists,'" Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy asserted. He went on to claim that Biden "does not understand the soul of America." He questioned the Democrat president of the United States for vilifying the millions of Americans who did not vote for him as being a "threat to democracy." Speaking during a televised interview, McCarthy claimed that Biden "is trying to distract from the disasters that he's created in this country (US)."

Democrats defended the US president, noting that at one point, he clarified that not every Republican, not even the majority of Republicans are MAGA Republicans. "Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology." House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) supported Biden for speaking rather “passionately about what it means to put people over politics” adding that “MAGA Republicans want to divide America.”  Reps. Terri Sewell of Alabama and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, also strongly supported Biden's address. “Equality and democracy in America are under assault,” tweeted Sewell, adding that the citizens must protect the right to vote, and "move the nation forward toward a more equitable and prosperous future!”