Republicans are up in arms over statements made by President Biden at a private event. This is what, Biden, who is admittedly a verbal loose cannon, said, with regard to what the US was seeing.

“either the beginning or the death knell of an extreme MAGA philosophy.”

and

“It’s not just [former President] Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the — I’m going to say something, it’s like semi-fascism,”

Republicans are saying this is an insult to the Republiocan Party. First of all, name calling, no matter who says it and who it is directed to, is not going to win you any arguments. What Biden did, though, was not name calling. Second, he did not insult the entire Republican party. Biden addressed a philosophy that is being pushed/followed, by a specific wing within the Republican Party. Kind of cagey actually.

This wing has philosophers such as Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the running star Josh Hawley, Louie Gomert, Paul Gosar, Jim Jordan and, of course, the philosopher in chief, Donald Trump. These philosophers have supported actions such as:

Banning books

Denying historical fact

Separating kids from parents and jailing said kids

Attracting far right extremist groups such as the proud boys and white supremacists

Physically attacking Government buildings

Calling media the enemy of the people

Attacking segments of the population

Promoting civil war to get their own way.

Attacking democracy

Now, if you compare the above to past examples of facism you might/will find a number of similar attributes. Biden will have to make clear that he labelled a philosophy currently being carried out by a specific segment of the Republican Party/base. Nothing more, nothing less.