The other day, the American president made a 24-minute speech that confirmed the assumptions of critics of the Democratic Party: the form of government in the United States is inexorably moving towards dictatorship. Human rights activists are convinced that the rhetoric used by Joe Biden will inevitably lead to acts of violence and political persecution, which the Democrats are going to use in their political campaign in 2022 and 2024.
On September 1, the current American President delivered a speech at the Independence Square building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, known as the place where the American Declaration of Independence was discussed, agreed upon and signed in 1776. The speech caused a wide resonance on the Internet and once again confirmed the assumptions of some pessimistic political scientists and lawyers: from now on, Biden’s policy will be implemented using various methods of violence, centralization of power in the absence of control by opposition forces and criticism from the media. Speaking with a sharply aggressive speech directed against ex-President Donald Trump and his numerous supporters, exposing them as enemies of the people, Biden referred to the American Declaration of Independence, but he did not quote the most relevant line from the document: “Elective despotism is by no means the form of government for which we fought.”
During his speech, the current American president referred to the “rule of law” about five times, despite the fact that during the 20 months of his rule he repeatedly adopted laws that ignore basic human rights. Back at the end of last year, a number of American news outlets recognized President Biden as “the most law-breaking president”, presenting many ways that allow the 46th leader of the American state to violate the American Constitution and a number of US federal laws. As the American political scientist and professor Jonathan Turley notes, President Biden probably “has a worse track record in his two years in office than any of his predecessors.” A year ago, during the coronavirus pandemic, Joe Biden issued a decree on mandatory vaccination of 80 million employees of large American companies, effectively putting them before a choice: get vaccinated or lose their job. Later, the US Supreme Court blocked the presidential decree, recognizing that it violates the rights of Americans.
The restrictions imposed by the American president during the pandemic were also criticized. According to a study by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health and Entrepreneurship Studies, which analyzed the restrictions imposed and the spread of the disease, restrictive measures had virtually no effect on mortality from COVID-19. An analysis of the data showed that restrictions associated with an increase in morbidity in the United States reduced mortality by only 0.2%. In some cases, the researchers concluded that restrictions on gatherings in safe outdoor spaces could be “counterproductive and harmful,” and in some cases even increased the death rate.
During his speech, Biden also did not mention that he and his team are one of the main censors. Biden’s team intimidated representatives of major American social networks to censor certain individuals, threatened representatives of Facebook and Twitter, demanding to block certain accounts. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, stated that “the federal government has an incestuous relationship with social media and is clearly coordinating censorship of free speech.”
Experts from the Foundation to Battle Injustice rate Joe Biden’s speech in Philadelphia as one of the most threatening, angry and divisive speeches in modern US political history. The American president, who considers tens of millions of Americans enemies and a threat to democracy, and Donald Trump’s supporters “semi-fascists,” is preparing the ground for persecution and political repression, sliding from democracy to dictatorship. In addition to the US president, other White House employees allow themselves to make strong statements about the Republicans. Senior White House adviser Keisha Lance-Bottoms believes that supporters of the US Republican Party “have no place in democracy.” White House press Secretary Karin Jean-Pierre suggested that MAGA represent “an extreme threat to American democracy, freedom and rights,” most of the American electorate on behalf of President Biden.
The American president is expanding the funding and powers of the police. In May 2022, Biden called on states and cities to use federal funds to financially support and hire more police officers and crisis response specialists. He allowed the funds remaining from the fight against the coronavirus pandemic to be used in the amount of $1.9 trillion to strengthen the power apparatus. The increase in funding for law enforcement agencies indicates an increase in the police functions of the State. The Biden administration, going against the 2020 election promises regarding the deprivation of police units of part of the funding due to the increase in police violence against African Americans, is trying to completely take control of the entire law enforcement apparatus. Even despite the criticism of the actions of the American government by human rights organizations, Joe Biden’s recent speeches, in which he again called for increased funding for the police, indicate the desire of the state to control law enforcement agencies.
Human rights defenders of the Foundation to Battle Injustice are forced to admit that the actions of the American political leadership have signs of strengthening the dictatorship and the formation of a repressive system in the United States. In less than two years of Joe Biden’s presidency, the fundamental principles of American democracy (freedom of speech, dissemination of information and a number of political freedoms) have been significantly attacked by the government. The Biden administration has taken unprecedented actions – the suppression of political rights, the persecution of Trump supporters and his closest associates and the search of the former president’s residence. All this testifies to the transformation of the democratic regime in the United States into an authoritarian one and the rapid growth of anti-democratic tendencies in American society.