Biden adviser says MAGA Republicans want to ‘destroy our country’

President Joe Biden’s adviser Keisha Lance Bottoms said on Sunday that MAGA Republicans want to “destroy” the country and are a “danger to our way of life.”

“There’s a MAGA Republican agenda that doesn’t respect the rule of law, that doesn’t respect a woman’s right to choose, that wants to hurt the FBI,” Bottoms told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart on The Sunday Show. “There’s a MAGA Republican agenda that thought it was okay to attack our nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6.”

Capehart first asked the former mayor of Atlanta for her thoughts on House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy’s “Commitment to America,” which he rolled out Friday at an event in suburban Pittsburgh.

“Well, it was very thin on details,” replied the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. “This reminded me of a textbook report. There were no specifics. No mention of national abortion bans, no mention of free and fair elections, no mention of January 6.”

The plan makes broad commitments to fight illegal immigration and crime, while drawing attention to social issues Republicans believe can win — including transathletes in women’s sports and teaching so-called “critical race theory.”

“This MAGA Republican agenda is a very dangerous agenda and what Kevin McCarthy has put forth is just more of the same from what we’ve seen from the MAGA elected officials across the country,” Bottoms said.

While Capehart pointed out that Biden’s approval rating is finally moving up, he also noted how interest rates are rising, gas prices – which had fallen – have risen again and the stock market has fallen.

He asked Bottoms how the Democrats are winning in the midterm elections when “the wind is against you now.”

Bottoms argued that voters who care about climate change, maintain the Affordable Care Act and maintain abortion rights will vote democratically.

“And what I would say is that this election is very important not only for the Democrats, but also for the Republicans, also for independents and everyone who cares about the United States of America,” she said.

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy visited Monongahela, Pennsylvania on Friday and rolled out the “Commitment to America,” a framework for what Republicans would pass on if they regain control of the House

Biden has used the term “MAGA Republicans” to go after anyone politically affiliated with former President Donald Trump and in particular the 2020 election deniers.

Bottoms alluded to that definition when asked about Democrats’ use of the term.

“Well, I think it will be important for all of us who care about the United States of America to shout what we see. And what we’re seeing again with this MAGA Republican agenda is an attempt to disrupt our democracy,” she said.

“I think it will always be important to invoke any attempt at destruction — essentially destroying the United States of America,” she continued.

Bottoms noted how Biden has said he wants to work in a bipartisan fashion — and has signed legislation that has gained Republican support.

“But if you have a Republican MAGA agenda that has no respect for the Constitution, which has no respect for free and fair elections, then it’s important for all of us, not just the president, not just me, for all of us to mention take it for what it is: it’s a danger to our democracy, it’s a danger to our way of life,” she concluded.