Former Atlanta Mayor and current senior White House adviser Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) said during an interview Sunday morning that President Joe Biden’s speech demonizing millions of Americans as extremist threats to the U.S. was needed because the administration believes it has to “call out hatred.”
“Ahead of the president’s speech, The White House was insistent the speech would be optimistic, was about bringing people together yet in it, Biden said President Trump’s MAGA supporters are a danger to democracy,” ABC’s Martha Raddatz said on “This Week.”
“How is that a unifying message?” Raddatz asked.
Bottoms responded by claiming that Biden’s goal was to remind “the American people of who we are as a country.”
“So, the president spoke optimistically about who we are as Americans,” she continued. “We are the greatest nation in the world. But also a reminder that we have to be intentional about being the greatest nation in the world and that we have to call out hatred. We have to call out this balance and that if we don’t, our democracy is in danger.”
WATCH:
Senior adviser Keisha Lance Bottoms on Biden’s Thursday speech: “The president spoke optimistically about who we are as Americans” pic.twitter.com/20uyXEZigU
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) September 4, 2022
TRANSCRIPT:
MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC NEWS HOST: And let’s bring in President Biden’s senior adviser and the former mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms. Good morning, Mayor.
Ahead of the president’s speech, The White House was insistent the speech would be optimistic, was about bringing people together yet in it, Biden said President Trump’s MAGA supporters are a danger to democracy. How is that a unifying message?
KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS, PRESIDENT BIDEN SENIOR ADVISER: Well, what the president did was that he reminded the American people of who we are as a country. We are a democracy that’s been built on the rule of law. We are a democracy that values the peaceful transition of power. We are a democracy that values the right of people to go and vote safely and in peace.
And so, what the president has done as our commander-in-chief is he’s remind — he has reminded us that democracies are fragile. You know this. You’ve been across the globe. And if we are not intentional about preserving who we are as a country, if we are not intentional about reminding ourselves that there is a rule of law in this country, then we will be in danger.
So, the president spoke optimistically about who we are as Americans. We are the greatest nation in the world. But also a reminder that we have to be intentional about being the greatest nation in the world and that we have to call out hatred. We have to call out this balance and that if we don’t, our democracy is in danger.
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