To Tell The Truth? Biden On MAGA

Social media is abuzz about Biden's attack on MAGA. On twitter, it seems that every MAGA supporter framed Biden's comments as an attack on at least half of America. Such a description begs the question that half of America are MAGA followers.  Since not even half of Americans are Republicans and not all Republicans are MAGA followers, it is logical to conclude that the MAGA portrayal of Biden's comments cannot possibly be true. But truth is not a friend to those who want to manipulatively persuade fellow Americans into following them

But what about Biden's claims about MAGA followers? You know, those who twice believed pre-election claims that only a fraudulent election could defeat their candidate, who so passionately embraced conspiracy theories designed to slander their political opponents and inject unwarranted distrust in our institutions, many of whom view Trump as a messianic political savior, who participated in or supported the invasion of the Capitol with the intent of overthrowing a legitimate election, who have sought positions in government in order to control voter participation and vote counting, who have threatened to take elections out of the hands of voters, and who fervently defended Trump's illegal possession of classified documents and how he stored them in unsecured locations at his residence while having foreign guests visit him.

And none of the above includes the two most major MAGA star politicians: Trump and DeSantis. Both of them used their positions in government to try to discredit or even take revenge on their critics and dissenters. Both of them have used their positions in government to censor historical materials about our nation's history which have narratives they don't approve of. Both of them have appointed yes-men people to medical/science positions in government\. And one of them, Trump, to be specific, called the MSM the enemy of the American people and has publicly expressed envy of and/or admiration for tyrannical dictators like Putin, Erdogan, and Jinping. In fact, Trump actually praised Putin for how he had Russian forces attack Ukraine.  And Putin supported the reelection bid of Donald Trump

So was Biden's assessment of MAGA followers wrong? I see no evidence of that. None. Zero. Zip. The evidence supports Biden's portrayal of MAGA followers. So should Biden have said what he said? The answer to that question is more difficult to answer because it all depends on the purpose of making those claims about MAGA followers.

If Biden merely wanted to reveal the threat that the MAGA movement poses to our nation, then Biden was right to tell the truth. 

But if Biden also wanted to avoid marginalizing any group of Americans, then the answer is a clear "NO.' In other words, Biden had his own deplorable moment in publicly denouncing MAGA followers.  In football terms, Biden committed a 'turnover,' a possible momentum changing one. All of the political capital gained from his recent legislative victory, the January 6th hearings, and the revelation of the kinds of documents recovered from Trump's Mar-A-Lago residence was put in harm's way.

But there is another problem with Biden making such public claims about MAGA followers. What Biden did worked as well as trying to tame a wild animal by cornering it. Of course, Biden wasn't trying to control MAGA as much as he was trying to score political points for fellow Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections. But Biden's singling out MAGA as an enemy of democracy was as politically effective as giving William Tell a shotgun to knock off an apple from the top of a person's head. And MAGA opportunists have not been slow at trying to make non-MAGA Republicans feel like victims who need the MAGA movement as a law firm for a class-action lawsuit.

Yes, the MAGA Movement gives every indication of wanting fascism provided that it is one of their people who is at the top. Yes, it was the MAGA Movement that first demonized their political opponents. Yes, it is the MAGA Movement that casts their leader as a Messiah who was hand-picked by God to save us. And yet, those in the MAGA Movement are fellow Americans with each one is made in the image of God.

We need to reach out to the MAGA people by focusing on the actions and rhetoric we object too rather than asking society to marginalize them. We need to point-by-point show where their claims are wrong with the hopes that we can turn some of them around. And we need to listen to their legitimate concerns, while ignoring their conspiracy theory driven fears, that those in the MAGA Movement have. That is how Biden should be speaking to the MAGA Movement.