Raskin says Biden ‘right to sound the alarm’ on GOP threats to democracy

by Olafimihan Oshin - 09/04/22 12:41 PM ET

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said on Sunday that President Biden was “right to sound the alarm” about former President Trump and the MAGA wing of the Republican Party.

“Two of the hallmarks of a fascist political party are, one, they don’t accept the results of elections that don’t go their way. And two, they embrace political violence,” Raskin told moderator Major Garrett on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“And I think that’s why President Biden was right to sound the alarm … about these continuing attacks on our constitutional order from the outside by Donald Trump and his movement.”

Raskin, a member of the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, also said that Trump’s suggestion that the 2020 election be “rerun” is “totally outside of the Constitution,” adding that more than 60 courts have rejected Trump’s claims of election fraud.

His remarks came after Garrett noted that Trump last week “said the 2020 election should be rerun, or he should be reinstated in office, and that if reelected in 2024, he would provide apologies and full pardons to those charged and or convicted for storming the Capitol on January 6.”

During a primetime address last Thursday, Biden referred to Trump and the MAGA-wing of the GOP as threats to democracy.

“Not every Republican, not even a majority of Republicans, are MAGA Republicans. Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology,” he said. “But there’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans. And that is a threat to this country.”

His remarks sparked pushback from a slew of GOP lawmakers.

“With all due respect Mr. President, there’s nothing wrong with America’s soul,” Sen. Lindsey Graham wrote in a tweet. “The American people are hurting because of your policies. Rampant inflation. Out of control crime. Terrorism on the rise. Broken borders. Stop lecturing & change your policies before it’s too late.”

In response, White House officials rejected characterizations of the speech as political, saying defending democracy isn’t a partisan issue.