White House Claims Biden's 'Battle for the Soul of the Nation' Speech Was Not Political

By Cassandra MacDonald  |  September 02, 2022

The White House is claiming that President Joe Biden’s ‘Battle for the Soul of the Nation’ speech was not political.

Speaking in front of a darkly lit American Independence Hall in Philadelphia, with two Marines positioned behind him, Biden delivered a speech on Thursday saying that “MAGA Republicans” present a “clear and present danger to our democracy” and “threat to this country.”

Following the speech, CNN anchor Brianna Keilar tweeted, “whatever you think of this speech the military is supposed to be apolitical. Positioning Marines in uniform behind President Biden for a political speech flies in the face of that. It’s wrong when Democrats do it. It’s wrong when Republicans do it.”

White House Deputy Press Secretary Chris Meagher responded by quote-tweeting Keilar and writing, “Democracy is not a partisan or political issue.”

Meagher then retweeted several pundits who defended Biden’s remarks — specifically on the issue of it being a political speech.

“‘Too political.’ That’s what today’s pundits would have said about the Declaration written in the building @POTUS spoke in front of. Being on the right side of history is never political,” CNN contributor Paul Begala wrote, earning himself the Meagher retweet.

Meagher also retweeted the former Director of Communications for the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign, Jennifer Palmieri.

Palmieri was responding to CBS News’ Senior White House and Political Correspondent Ed O’Keefe, who had tweeted, “Like or loathe what he said tonight, it should be noted: The president spoke tonight on the grounds of a national park, flanked by US Marines, and took direct, specific aim at his predecessor and members of the Republican Party.”

Palmieri had replied, “Yeah, we don’t see it every day…cuz these are extraordinary times when democracy is threatened! POTUS clearly said most R’s aren’t MAGA R’s. That’s not a partisan speech. A partisan speech is saying all R’s are rotten & don’t vote for any of them. That didn’t happen here.”

“Love to make controversial political statements like ‘let’s continue to have democracy,'” Washington Post blogger Alexandra Petri wrote in a tweet shared by Meagher.

“This wasn’t a political speech. We have to break free of this notion that calling out threats to our democracy when they happen to be coming from one party makes it ‘political,'” another Meagher retweet, written in response to CNN’s Chief National Affairs Correspondent, said.

During Biden’s speech, he asserted that “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”

After spending much of the speech attacking supporters of the former president, and his likely 2024 challenger, Biden urged people to vote.

“We can’t afford to leave anyone on the sidelines. We need everyone to do their part, so speak up, speak out, get engaged, vote, vote, vote!” Biden said.

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