In the wake of the leaked Supreme Court opinion showing the conservative majority's intent to overturn rights to abortion in its next session, Democratic President Joe Biden called out former Republican President Donald Trump's MAGA movement.
And Trump is not having it.
Responding during a press conference to a question about the Court's forthcoming ruling and its potential impact on other rights, Biden called Trump and his supporters the "most extreme political organization" in recent history.
In response, Trump appeared on Fox News and lambasted the President with a string of bombastic claims for which he offered no evidence.
See Biden's comments below.
President Biden: "This is about a lot more than abortion...What are the next things that are going to be attacked because this MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization that's existed in American history, in recent American history."pic.twitter.com/fJzB707RiA— CSPAN (@CSPAN) 1651678127
Asked about the SCOTUS ruling, Biden warned:
"This is about a lot more than abortion..."
Biden is almost certainly correct.
If adopted, the Court's leaked majority opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization will overturn both of the Court's previous abortion rights decisions, 1992's Casey v. Planned Parenthood and 1973's Roe v. Wade.
To do so, Justice Samuel Alito's opinion invalidates the interpretation of the 14th Amendment's privacy rights—the same interpretation that underpins rights to contraception, interracial marriage and same-sex marriage, to name just a few.
This led Biden to issue a sobering warning about the rollback of other rights in the future.
"The idea that somehow there is no right of privacy ... What happens if you have a state that changes the law, saying that children who are LGBTQ can’t be in classrooms with other children."
"Is that legit under the way the [Supreme Court] decision is written?"
And Biden laid the blame squarely at the feet of Trump, his supporters and his cult of personality that has taken over right-wing politics.
"What are the next things that are going to be attacked? Because this MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization that’s existed in American history, in recent American history."
Trump made nominating Justices to the Supreme Court who are willing to overturn Roe v Wade a key issue in his campaign—and it seems to be one of the only promises he was able to keep.
Naturally, the man at the center of that personality cult wasn't a fan of Biden's comments.
Trumps response to joe saying \u201cMAGA is the most extreme political org that\u2019s existed in America.\u201d \n\n\u201cBiden is being very divisive. That\u2019s all they know \u2014 misinformation. MAGA is saving America. Our country is going to Hell. MAGA is saving America.\u201d— \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8ProudArmyBrat (@\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8ProudArmyBrat) 1651857749
Speaking to Fox News, he laid into Biden with a string of bombastic claims.
"MAGA is saving America. Our country is going to hell. MAGA is saving America."
"Inflation, incompetent withdrawals from Afghanistan, leaving hostages horribly wounded, soldiers, $85 billion of military equipment – MAGA is saving America."
Trump of course neglected to mention that both inflation and the withdrawal from Afghanistan are partly the results of his own policies during his term as President.
Trump went on to call Biden "divisive," saying that "misinformation" is the only political weapon Democrats have.
Trump went on to claim the Russia-Ukraine war would not have happened if he'd won reelection--a preposterous claim given he praised Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion as "genius" and was impeached for withholding military aid to Ukraine when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to give him dirt on Biden in exchange.
On Twitter, many felt Biden's comments hit the nail on the head.
He\u2019s not wrong\u2026.— Steffie \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6\u2764\ufe0f\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udf77 (@Steffie \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6\u2764\ufe0f\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udf77) 1651756538
President Biden is correct in his comments. I think Biden did the right thing in trying to work with Republicans. If he didn't, then everyone would be accusing him of not trying to work with the other side.\nI believe now, Biden should just go his own route to get things done.— Nancy (@Nancy) 1651692791
Vote out every Republican in November!— Patrick \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b (@Patrick \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b) 1651678510
They are Nazishttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-maga-extreme-political-organization_n_62729ecce4b009a811be2ffb\u00a0\u2026— Suavecito (@Suavecito) 1651705538
Every. Word. Of. This.https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1521874487133839362\u00a0\u2026— Changfucius (@Changfucius) 1651687208
Judges SHOULD be casting aside their personal. political & religious beliefs to follow the rule of law.\nRoe v. Wade has been the law of the land for 50 yrs suddenly these shit stains want to turn back the clock. They're not fit to sit on the Supreme Court. They broke their oath.https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1521874487133839362\u00a0\u2026— @Devinnunesbabymama (@@Devinnunesbabymama) 1651705818
But many liberals also expressed their frustration with Biden, feeling his comments on the matter are "too little, too late."
No offense @POTUS but we have been screaming for you guys to pay attention & get tough since Jan 6, 2021. While you were seeking bipartisan, we clearly saw a republican taliban.\n\nWe voted for Democrats to protect our right to vote and a woman\u2019s right to choose our own future.— ANITA MARIE (@ANITA MARIE) 1651680797
So he I finally waking up to this on the eve of destruction. The F\u2019ing house is a five alarm fire and the man finally smells smoke.— Tilted Toast (@Tilted Toast) 1651750419
That's true, but we don't really need the President to point out obvious factual background, we need leadership as to what is going to be done to address the problem.— Chris Dicely\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Chris Dicely\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1651678452
Biden's comments echoed a previous statement last month in which he called the Republican Party "the MAGA party" and lamented that even more reasonable Republicans are "afraid to act correctly, because they know they'll be primaried."
Asked about these comments, Trump told Fox News: "I hope so."
