Following his South Carolina presidential primary win, President Biden’s victory speech highlighted the threat Trump poses to our democracy and the heightened stakes of the upcoming election. Recent polling reflected President Biden’s speech, finding that 67% of respondents said the outcome of the 2024 election will be crucial for the future of American democracy.
“Voters have made it clear that defending our democracy will continue to be a cornerstone of this election,” said Tiffany Muller, President of End Citizens United // Let America Vote. “Donald Trump’s campaign of revenge and retribution threatens our democracy, our rights, and our freedoms. Americans know President Biden and Vice President Harris will continue to protect our democracy and are ready to reelect them.”
See below for coverage:
Associated Press: Biden warns of a ‘nightmare’ future for the country if Trump should win again, and lists reasons why
Gabe Stern and Darlene Superville
2/4/24
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President Joe Biden on Sunday ticked through a list of reasons he says a second Donald Trump presidency would be a “nightmare” for the country as he urged Nevada Democrats to vote for him in the state’s presidential primary this week and for his party at large in November.
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Biden opened a campaign swing with a fundraiser where he focused on Trump’s ample history of provocative statements — his description of Jan. 6 rioters as “hostages,” his musing about a former top military officer deserving execution, his branding of fallen soldiers as “suckers” and “losers,” his wish to be a Day One “dictator,” his vow to supporters that “I am your retribution,” and more.
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Then it was on to a community center in a predominantly Black section of Las Vegas, where he told his crowd of several hundred that “you’re the reason we’ll make Donald Trump a loser again.”
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Biden said the stakes were huge when he took on Trump in 2020 — “what made America America, I thought, was at risk’ — and they are even larger now as a likely rematch looms.
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“We have to keep the White House,” he said., “We must keep the Senate” and win back the House.
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Accomplish that, he said, and “we can say we saved American democracy.”
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He was equally blunt in talking up his record at his subsequent rally where he implored voters to “imagine the nightmare of Donald Trump.”’
CNN: Biden will win South Carolina Democratic primary, earning his first delegates of 2024, CNN projects
Eric Bradner
2/3/24
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“This is not just a campaign. This is more of a mission. We cannot, we cannot, we cannot lose this campaign, for the good of the country,” Biden said.
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“I mean that from the bottom of my heart. It’s not about me,” he said. “It’s about the country. And I think everybody knows it and I think it’s beginning to dawn on people.”
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“The American people get it. They understand what’s going on,” Biden said, framing the contest around the protection of democracy.
CNBC: Biden nets landslide victory in South Carolina Democratic primary, over 95% of votes
Rebecca Picciotto and Christina Wilkie
2/4/24
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President Joe Biden won a landslide victory in South Carolina’s Democratic primary Saturday, where voters sent a clear message that they are ready for Biden to pivot to the November election.
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The win injects fresh momentum into Biden’s reelection campaign, and it offers a compelling rebuttal to the narrative that Democratic voters are ambivalent — or worse — about their party’s standard bearer.
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“In 2020, it was the voters of South Carolina who proved the pundits wrong, breathed new life into our campaign, and set us on the path to winning the Presidency,” Biden said in a statement following Saturday’s results.
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Biden’s overwhelming margin of victory left no question about who Democratic voters want to be on the ballot in November.
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