Biden warns of Trump-allied Republican 'semi-fascism'

ROCKVILLE (Maryland) • US President Joe Biden had harsh words to describe Trump-allied Republicans as he held his first political rally in the run-up to the November elections, accusing the group of embracing violence and hatred, and saying they edged towards "semi-fascism" at an earlier fund-raising stop.

Mr Biden, kicking off a coast-to-coast tour, is looking to lend his support to Democratic candidates and prevent those Republicans from taking control of Congress by touting the sharp differences between the two major US parties, and calling on independent and Republican voters for help.

"It's not hyperbole now, you need to vote to literally save democracy again," he told an above-capacity crowd of several thousand at a Democratic National Committee event in a Maryland suburb of Washington on Thursday.

"America must choose. You must choose. Whether our country will move forward or backward," he said. "Trump and the extreme Maga Republicans have made their choice - to go backwards full of anger, violence, hate and division," he said, warning they "refuse to accept the will of the people".

Since the Jan 6, 2021, attacks on the US Capitol, some supporters of former president Donald Trump have repeated his lie that the 2020 election was stolen and threatened election workers.

In Maryland's Montgomery County, where more than 78 per cent of voters chose Mr Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris in 2020, Mr Biden asked "Democrats, independents and mainstream Republicans" to join together to commit to the future.

Before the rally, he met Democratic donors for a US$1 million (S$1.39 million) party fundraiser in a backyard in a leafy neighbourhood north of Washington.

Mr Biden detailed the tumult facing the United States and the world from climate change. He spoke about economic upheaval and the future of China and was strongly critical of the direction of the Republican Party.

"We're seeing now either the beginning or the death knell of an extreme Maga agenda," he said, referring to Mr Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. "It's not just Trump ... It's almost semi-fascism."

Republicans are hoping to ride voter discontent with inflation, questions about Mr Biden's policies and cultural resentment from its majority-white base to victory in November, and they have history on their side.

The party that controls the White House usually loses seats in Congress in a new president's first mid-term elections, and political analysts predict Republicans have a solid chance of taking control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate.

Democrats hold only a thin majority in the House, while the Senate is evenly divided, with Vice-President Harris' tie-breaking power giving Democrats control.

Republican control of one or both chambers could thwart Mr Biden's legislative agenda for the second half of his four-year term.

REUTERS