US President Joe Biden has warned of a growing threat to American democracy from Donald Trump and his supporters within the Republican Party.

“Something dangerous is happening in America right now,” Biden said in his speech in Tempe, Arizona. “There is an extremist movement that does not share the core beliefs of our democracy. The MAGA movement.”

MAGA: More than a slogan

MAGA, short for Trump’s campaign slogan Make America Great Again, is being used by Biden and other Democrats as a label for Trump’s right-wing supporters. Biden’s accusation: Trump and his supporters are endangering democratic institutions by “not respecting the outcome of elections.”

Intra-party tensions among the Republicans

Even if not all Republicans support Trump, Biden said, the party is “driven and intimidated by the MAGA extremists.” Regarding Trump’s allegations against former US Chief of Staff Mark Milley, Biden said: “The silence is deafening.” He also warned that democracies could “die if people remain silent.”

Biden versus Trump: An ongoing rivalry

While Trump is the leader among Republican presidential candidates and could challenge Biden in the November 2024 election, Biden stands by his warning that Trump is a “threat to US democracy.”

Honor to McCain and current political challenges

Biden paid tribute to Republican Senator John McCain, who died in 2018, and took the opportunity to criticize Trump again, as McCain was one of Trump’s harshest critics in his time. On the same day of his speech, the first impeachment hearing against Biden took place in the House of Representatives. Faced with an impending budget freeze, Biden warned Republicans that their blockade tactics would “burn everything down.”