Former two-term Massachusetts Democratic Governor Deval Patrick said he “celebrate[s]” President Joe Biden’s speech last week that described supporters of former President Donald Trump as a threat to democracy.
Appearing on CBS “Face the Nation” Sunday, Patrick said the president’s remarks were justified because of so-called “vote suppression laws” and dark money campaigns in multiple states around the country. Patrick said he would not have used the words Biden did, but praised the president’s rhetoric for “call[ing] things what they are.”
“A friend of mine says, ‘we’ve been treating our democracy for a long time in this country as if it would tolerate limitless abuse without breaking,'” Patrick began. “And when you add up the 19 states and their vote suppression laws recently, and you look at that alongside the amount of money, so much of it dark, which has been permitted into our politics and our policymaking, the radical purging rules, the ways in which we have distorted the democratic process as a means to achieve better lives for citizens, it is deeply worrisome and it’s gotten worse because of election deniers.”
“I celebrate the president’s speech,” he continued. “Any one of us would choose different words but I think it is great that the president first of all calls things what they are. And also reminds us that the purpose of democracy is a means to assure liberty and justice for all. We have to care about that process and that purpose for those reasons.”
Patrick’s comments echoed praise leveled by other left-wing figures and media outlets over the weekend. The Atlantic described Biden’s address as “The Speech No President Should Have to Give.” In an op-ed for NBC News, Yale history Professor Jason Stanley said, “The president did not shy away from the truth,” describing so-called “MAGA Republicans” as an “explicitly antidemocratic social and political movement” that has taken over the party and poses a threat to the democracy.
Democratic leaders in Congress were quick to back Biden after Thursday’s speech.
“Tonight, @POTUS spoke passionately about what it means to put people over politics,” House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) wrote on Twitter. “MAGA Republicans want to divide our nation. Democrats are fighting to strengthen our democracy. The soul of America will prevail and we will continue our march toward a more perfect union.”
“Tonight, @POTUS Biden, in his inspiring and optimistic remarks, made crystal clear that our rights, our freedom and our Democracy are on the line,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) tweeted.
“I stand with my friend @POTUS as he calls on all of us to fulfill our duty and defend our democracy,” Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) added. “It was an honor to witness his fierce defense of the soul of our nation in Philadelphia tonight.”