“We must be honest with each other, and with ourselves.”

This was the beginning of one of the most memorable speeches that current United States President Joe Biden delivered. On September 1st, in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Biden remarked, in the name of honesty, an “attack” on MAGA (Make America Great Again) Republicans.

Before we do a deep dive on this speech, I want to establish that this article is my personal opinion and commentary on Joe Biden’s speech.

Biden started his speech normally, and was boring enough. Not really worth listening to because it was like any other speech made by an American president. But then it took a turn and became a direct call out to a former president and his followers.

“Donald Trump and the MAGA republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”

Normally, calling out a former president and his followers is disrespectful and something that just doesn’t happen. That being said, Trump is known for saying very controversial things and is acclaimed for doing so by his followers, so why can’t Biden do the same?

There actually is a very good reason why Biden cannot do the same. Democrats and Biden’s supporters praise themselves for being “reasonable” and-for lack of a better word- superior to other people. Biden shouldn’t follow in Trump’s footsteps. We need to move on from slandering the other side and work together on building a newer (and hopefully more youthful) bipartisan country.

Trump was either extremely loved or hated. Not many people held mild views of him, nor were they indifferent to him. Hate is a strong word, and maybe the wrong word in general, but Trump seemed to be hated across the nation, and even across the globe (hence why he lost in his reelection campaign). But just because the former president was greatly disliked doesn’t mean we should tell all of America that he threatens our democracy.

To be honest, although it is not the best way to go around things, it needs to be said: Former President Trump lost almost two years ago and overall was not the best president. He got impeached twice (although not voted out of office) yet his cult-like followers still remain passionate to this day.

I’m not saying he caused the January 6 insurrection, but is it really a coincidence that after he made a speech suggesting to his supporters that they should march to the Capitol and try to turn the election around, they did just that, but with weapons? Correlation does not mean causation, that being said correlation does lead to questions about the causation.

Biden at least tries his best to remain bipartisan by mentioning the difference between MAGA republicans and less extreme Republicans.

“I want to be very clear, very clear upfront, not every Republican, not even the majority of Republicans are MAGA Republicans.”

How many Republicans are MAGA Republicans? According to Biden, enough to make a speech about and let’s be honest, enough to cause a problem in America.

We cannot, in the name of creating a better America, slander other American politicians, even if they deserve it. We are America, land of the free. America deserves more than citizens who bear hatred for presidents and other politicians, whether that’s hate towards Biden or Trump.

“The Republican Party today is dominated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans and that is a threat to our society.”

We should have two, maybe three, parties full of reasonable people. Trump created a new era of politics, one where we dislike our neighbors for having different views than us, and one where many fear for their safety. Say what you want about Democrats or Republicans, but we have become increasingly more divided since the 2016 election.

We need to work together to create a bipartisan, working country. We are the United States of America, land of the free and brave. We need to start acting like it.

I’ll leave you with this thought. I have shared a lot of my opinions in this article, and Biden shared a lot of his opinions-or his speech writers’ opinions- in his speech. We may believe these truths ourselves, but is it the total truth or just our truths?

“My duty to level with you, to tell the truth, no matter how difficult, no matter how painful.”

Many may justify his actions, saying that it needed to be said or that what he said was the truth. That may be correct, but even if he said the complete truth, how are extreme words going to make the country a better place? What he said just angered millions of people. We need to stop the hateful words and work together to get things done and help Americans across the country.