Fact Check: Biden Claims Republican Leaders ‘All But Calling’ For Violence

CLAIM: President Joe Biden said that Republican political leaders were not only predicting, but calling for “rioting in the streets.”

VERDICT: FALSE. No Republican leader called for violence; Biden, again, apparently misquoted Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

Biden delivered an inflammatory address at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on Thursday evening in which he described “MAGA Republicans” as enemies of democracy. In the course of portraying his political opponents as violent extremists, Biden said: “There are public figures today, yesterday, and the day before, predicting and all but calling for mass violence and rioting in the streets.”

It seems Biden was referring to comments by Graham, warning that there could be riots if the Department of Justice indicted Trump.

Breitbart News fact-checked Biden earlier this week when he accused Graham saying it was “appropriate” to use violence:

Democrats and the media have obsessed in recent days over a warning by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), who said in a recent interview: “If they try to prosecute President Trump for mishandling classified information after Hillary Clinton set up a server in her basement, there literally will be riots in the street.”

But warning that there might be unrest over a double standard in law enforcement — as there was, with Democrat support, throughout 2020 — is not the same as saying that violence is “necessary” or “appropriate.”

It is, at best, a wild exaggeration to claim that Graham was actually advocating for violence; from the mouth of the President of the United States, that claim is arguably inflammatory in and of itself, as it may be used to justify violence by Democrats.

Graham has since clarified what he said, telling Fox News:

“What I said Sunday was Americans reject [and] I reject violence — but I also reject the double standard here,” Graham said. “So if they try to prosecute President Trump for mishandling classified information after the Clinton debacle when she was secretary of state, people in this country will lose faith in law enforcement.”

…

“I reject violence. But, Mr. President, you need to talk to the vice president of the United States, your vice president, about bailing out rioters. Doesn’t that encourage violence?”

No Republican leaders have called for violence. House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who is leading the party’s midterm campaign push, gave a speech earlier Thursday encouraging Republicans to vote in the November election.

Biden’s speech was too much even for some at left-leaning CNN, such as anchor Brianna Keilar, who criticized Biden’s use of Marines as props.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.