Just before the traditional Labor Day launch of the political season,
President Biden inserted himself into the midterm elections on Thursday with a fierce speech castigating former President Donald J. Trump and his followers
but ending with optimism for the nation’s democratic future.
Here are four takeaways from the prime-time address from Independence Hall in Philadelphia:
It’s still about Trump. Sure, Mr. Biden rattled off the accomplishments of his first year
and a half in office — infrastructure, gun safety, prescription drug price controls and “the most important climate initiative ever.”
But in his address to the nation, Mr. Biden tacitly acknowledged that his predecessor still looms over the politics of the moment, like it or not.
And he took it to Mr. Trump directly, calling him out by name and seeking to differentiate between “the MAGA Republicans” loyal to Mr. Trump
and what he deemed reasonable Republicans who still stand by the American democratic experiment.
“There’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans,” he said. “And that is a threat to this country.”