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President Joe Biden pulled a 180 on Friday, saying he does not consider all of former President Donald Trump’s supporters to be a threat to the nation, but said anyone who uses violence or fails to condemn it does pose a threat to democracy.
Biden condemned “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans” in a speech on Thursday night, calling their “extremism” a threat to democracy.
Republicans and even liberal media pundits have criticized the speech as divisive.
Asked by a reporter at the White House on Friday whether he was referring to all Trump supporters, Biden completely contradicted his remarks from the night before, saying, “I don’t consider any Trump supporter to be a threat to the country.”
He added, “I do think anyone who calls for the use of violence, who fails to condemn violence when it’s used, and refuses to acknowledge that an election has been won, insists on changing the way in which the rules, you count the votes, that is a threat to democracy.”
It is unclear exactly what violence Biden was referring to. It certainly was not the violence perpetrated by Black Lives Matter rioters, ANTIFA thugs, or pro-abortion vandals over the last couple of years. As for election denial, he probably was not referring to the 72% of Democrats who, according to a poll in April, still believe Russians changed the outcome of the 2016 election in Donald Trump’s favor.
Trump voters “weren’t voting for attacking the capitol,” Biden said. “They weren’t voting for overruling elections.”
Copyright 2022 Thomson/Reuters (Additions and edits for FISM News by Jacob Fuller).