A GOP strategist said she was moved to tears by President Joe Biden’s recent speech condemning extremist election-denying Republicans for the risks they pose to American democracy.
“Everything feels really dark. Really heavy. We’re in uncharted territory,” Rina Shah told MSNBC on Saturday, citing the discovery of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. “We are in [an] absolutely unbelievable moment right now, where we have a person who wants to hijack the country for his own gain.”
“So what I heard from Joe Biden last night gave me tremendous hope,” she continued. “Actually, to be very honest with you, it made me cry like a child. Because it reminded me of my late father, who came to America in 1970 and my mother, who came in 1980. And as a daughter of those two immigrants, who was raised to believe in the goodness of America, not just as a concept, but I was raised to believe in the goodness of American people.”
“I was told by my parents that Americans are inherently good. By virtue, they’re accepting people. My, how far we’ve come away from that.”
“So what I heard from Joe Biden was, again: There are certain Americans amongst us who have been radicalized and are extremists. And it’s up to each one of us not just to be vigilant and to push back but to take a whole new responsibility.”
In his prime-time address from Philadelphia on Friday, Biden called on Americans to defend against extremist Republicans and Trump supporters who have attacked law enforcement, sought to delegitimize election results and undermined the nation’s electoral process.
“For a long time, we’ve reassured ourselves that American democracy is guaranteed. But it is not. We have to defend it. Protect it. Stand up for it. Each and every one of us,” Biden warned.
“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, refuse to accept the results of a free election.”
Biden acknowledged that not every Republican embraces this extreme ideology but said there was “no question” that the modern GOP is dominated and intimidated by Trump and his base.
Many Republicans have slammed Biden’s rhetoric as divisive, including Trump himself, who called it the most “vicious, hateful, and divisive speech ever delivered by an American president.