President Biden used the words "extreme," "extremists," or "extremism" six times; some form of "insurrection" three times; the acronym "MAGA" (usually "MAGA Republicans" or "MAGA forces") 13 times; and he called out Donald Trump by name three times during his primetime address to the nation from Philadelphia's Independence Hall Thursday night, according to a transcript of the speech by the New York Times. That about sums up the main theme of his address: a plea for Americans to reject Trumpism and fight to save American democracy. "I believe America is at an inflection point, one of those moments that determine the shape of everything that’s to come after," he said. "And now, America must choose to move forward or to move backwards, to build a future or obsess about the past, to be a nation of hope and unity and optimism or a nation of fear, division and of darkness."
He also opened a sentence with "Look" four times:
- "Look, I know politics can be fierce and mean and nasty in America. I get it. I believe in the give and take of politics, in disagreement and debate and dissent. We’re a big complicated country, but democracy endures only if we, the people, respect the guardrails of the Republic. Only if, we the people accept the results of free and fair elections. Only if, we the people see politics, not as total war, but mediation of our differences. Democracy cannot survive on one side believes there are only two outcomes to an election: Either they win or they were cheated."
- "Look, as your president, I will defend our democracy with every fiber of my being, and I’m asking every American to join me. Throughout our history, America has often made the greatest progress coming out of some of our darkest moments like you’re hearing in that bullhorn. I believe we can and must do that again, and we are."
- "Look, I know the last year, few years have been tough, but today COVID no longer controls our lives. More Americans are working than ever. Businesses are growing, our schools are open, millions of Americans have been lifted out of poverty. Millions of veterans once exposed to toxic burn pits will now get what they deserve for their families in compensation. American manufacturing has come alive across the heartland, and the future will be made in America, no matter what the white supremacists and the extremists say."
- "Look, our democracy isn’t perfect. It always [sic] has been. Notwithstanding those folks you hear on the other side there. They’re entitled to be outrageous. This is a democracy. But history and common sense—good manners is nothing they have ever suffered from—but history and common sense tell us that opportunity, liberty and justice for all are most likely to come to pass in a democracy. We have never fully realized the aspirations of our founding, but every generation has opened those doors a little bit wider to include more people who have been excluded before."
Read the full transcript at the
Times. (More
President Biden stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
