Washington DC [US], December 3 : Former US President Donald Trump has called US President Joe Biden a "destroyer of American democracy," The Washington Post reported.
While addressing thousands of supporters in Iowa, Trump said, "Biden and his radical left allies like to pose as defenders of democracy."
He said, "But Joe Biden is not the defender of American democracy. Joe Biden is the destroyer of American democracy. ... This campaign is a righteous crusade to liberate our republic from Biden and the criminals and the Biden administration," The Washington Post reported.
In his address, Trump tried to play down the criminal charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 election and from his own commitments to take revenge on his opponents if he returns to the White House, seeking to parry warnings that he poses a danger to democracy.
In his address, he said that the investigations into his presidency, like the special counsel probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election and his first impeachment for pressuring Ukraine to disparage Biden, amounted to an effort to "overthrow the duly elected President."
As candidates ramp up appearances in Iowa ahead of the caucuses on January 15, Trump, who refused to accept his 2020 election loss, compared Biden to a fascist tyrant and the campaign distributed signs reading 'BIDEN ATTACKS DEMOCRACY.'
He accused Biden "and his band of Marxists, Communists and Fascists" of trying "to crush free speech, censor their critics," and "criminalize dissent," according to The Washington Post report.
Donald Trump said, "They've been waging an all-out war on American democracy," Trump said. "And becoming more and more extreme and repressive."
"If you put me back in the White House, that reign will be over and America will be a free nation once again," he added.
Jennifer Mercieca, a historian of American political rhetoric at Texas A&M University, said that Trump's speech showed that US President Joe Biden's framing of the 2024 election as democracy versus authoritarianism is resonating with voters.
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