Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH) demanded an apology from President Biden after he “criticized a wing of the Republican Party for embracing authoritarianism,” Huffington Post reported on Monday, August 29, 2022 (see story here).
Sununu (bio here), who comes from a prominent political family, isn’t a bad guy as today’s politics go. Although he describes himself as a Trump supporter, he’s not an election denier, says he’s pro-choice and supports LGBQT rights, and worked to implement police reforms in his state after George Floyd’s murder.
But there’s nothing to apologize for.
On Thursday, August 25, Biden gave a campaign speech in Maryland. He said, “In 2020, you and 81 million Americans voted to save our democracy,” which is true; many braved weather, long lines, and other obstacles to voting thrown up by Republicans to defeat a lawless president who fed racial resentment and incited political violence. And many respected and reputable commentators have openly said our democracy is in jeopardy.
CNN reported (here), “He said Trump and fellow Republicans ‘have made their choice to go backwards, full of anger, violence, hate and division.'” While this may not apply to Sununu, it’s true of most Republicans today. If the shoe fits, wear it.
Later, at private meeting of Democratic donors — a setting reminiscent of Mitt Romney’s “47%” remark that damaged his 2012 election prospects (details
here) — Biden said, “What we’re seeing now is either the beginning or the death knell of an extreme MAGA philosophy. It’s not just Trump,” he went on, “it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the — I’m going to say something: It’s like semi-fascism.”
Romney’s remark was off, because it unfairly characterized the 47% of Americans who didn’t owe federal income taxes (but paid other taxes) as slackers. Biden’s remark is on, because it accurately describes Trump, his MAGA movement, and most of the Republican Party — except some observers would remove the “semi” and call the GOP full-blown fascism.
To anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock, the GOP opposes democracy, doesn’t respect voters, and not only sought to overturn the will of the people by essentially criminal means in 2020, but is trying to take away their right to elect the president in 2024 by attempting to delegate elector selection to gerrymandered and unrepresentative legislatures.
Trump continues to push his election lies, and the party and grassroots are fully behind those lies. The 2022 primaries demonstrated that GOP candidates mostly can’t win their party’s nominations unless they endorse “stolen election” conspiracy theories and falsehoods.
Trumpers have threatened election officials and workers, and their families; and, of course, were responsible for the violent attack on the Capitol which included attacks on police and threats to kill politicians who stood in the way of Trump’s attempted coup.
Republicans have almost uniformly supported Trump’s lawless behavior, or at least refused to condemn it, and some party leaders even threaten further violence if he’s held to account for his wrongful behavior (see, e.g., story
here).
MAGA sympathizers talk about “civil war,” have formed armed militias, and brandished guns in public spaces to intimidate opponents. A GOP candidate in Minnesota, in a campaign speech, incited the crowd to “vote with bullets” (see story
here), and no one in the GOP rebuked him.
Republicans are targeting black, Muslim, immigrant, and LGBQT minority groups for harassment and discrimination. They don’t respect constitutional and legal boundaries. Instead of debating issues in a civilized manner, they demonize Democrats and increasingly are excluding reporters from their campaign events. (Those are public offices they’re running, and the public is entitled to know what they’re saying to their supporters.)
Many Americans are sincerely fearful that our nation is drifting toward authoritarianism. On this blog, I’ve repeatedly commented that elections are no longer about policies, but what form of government we’re going to have.
The GOP is a fascist party. Biden simply called it like it is. He owes no apology for stating the truth. If Republicans don’t like it, their remedy is to change their behavior.
Meanwhile, it is Republicans who owe apologies to the American people.