Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States, said fascism has “officially arrived in America” following President Biden’s divisive rhetoric.
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Biden’s September 1 speech has incited bipartisan criticism for its tone and increase in dangerous rhetoric.
In his appearance on the “Todd Starnes Show,” Meckler cited a poll from the Convention of States that showed 56.8 percent of Americans thought the president’s remarks were an escalation of rhetoric.
Meckler noted that, surprisingly, the majority of people aged 18 to 24 years old held this view.
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“What I saw was that young people, 18 to 24, were literally right up at the very top at 59.6 percent of people. They thought it was a dangerous escalation in rhetoric and designed to incite conflict among Americans,” Meckler told Starnes.
Starnes also thought that statistic was noteworthy, as young people tend to be more progressive in their political views.
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“I’m really surprised by those numbers. I’m with you. I would have felt like they would have been the least upset about Biden’s rhetoric,” Starnes remarked.
Listen to the full conversation here:
The following is a rush transcript from the Todd Starnes Show which airs daily from noon to 3:00 p.m. EST.
TODD STARNES: [00:59:55] I want to go to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line. From the Convention of States, our good friend, Mark Meckler. Mark, good to have you with us today. [01:00:02][7.8]
MARK MECKLER: [01:00:04] Great to be with you, Todd. [01:00:04][0.7]
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STARNES: [01:00:05] Mark, when you saw the president’s speech, I’m curious to know your thoughts as you saw the backdrop, the imagery, the blood red lighting, the darkness enveloping the president. [01:00:18][12.5]
MECKLER: [01:00:20] Yeah. I mean, I would say the main thing is that fascism has officially arrived in America. And I don’t mean to sound hyperbolic, the definition of fascism, according to Mussolini, was everything inside the state, nothing outside the state, and nothing against the state. And he didn’t mention the red and black imagery, but that’s certainly, I would say Biden brought all of that to the podium during that speech. And I think we now have an openly fascist president. [01:00:46][25.9]
STARNES: [01:00:47] Whenever I heard him use the word semi fascist a couple of weeks ago, alarm bells went off. Because you and I both know that when the Democrats are out there accusing Republicans of being racist or xenophobic or whatever, they’re actually talking about their own policies, it’s a form of political projection, I suppose. [01:01:08][20.4]
MECKLER: [01:01:10] Yeah, it is. And they do this constantly. So they call us fascists, it’s because they are fascists. They call us racists because the Democrat Party is now and has always been the party of dividing people by race. It’s important we remember the Democrats were the party of the Civil War. They were the party of Jim Crow. They were the party of filibustering the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the longest filibuster in history. They were the party of interning Japanese citizens during World War II. The racism changes its face and its color, but racism is at the root of the Democrat Party, as is fascism. [01:01:43][32.8]
STARNES: [01:01:43] Well, let’s talk about this survey that you guys put out there just a few days ago. Were you surprised that 56.8 percent of Americans believe the president’s address is an escalation in rhetoric? [01:01:59][15.6]
MECKLER: [01:02:01] I wasn’t surprised. I expected to see that from independents and Republicans, so those numbers weren’t really surprised me. There were a couple of things that were surprise. One is that only 28 percent of Democrats thought that way. And I think this is important, we’re living in a time where the parties and the ideologies have become so split, where average Democrats are in favor of this kind of stuff. It’s a scary time in American history. The second thing that I thought was really interesting is when you go into what we call the crosstabs, the details of how these things break out among different groups. What I saw was that young people, 18 to 24, were literally right up at the very top at 59.6 percent of people. They thought it was a dangerous escalation in rhetoric and designed to incite conflict among Americans. The only other group at that level were 65 plus. So you have the youngest and the oldest among us say that this was designed to incite everybody else around 55 percent. So it’s not that big of a swing. But definitely young people did not like the tone and tenor of this speech. [01:03:00][59.5]
STARNES: [01:03:01] I’m really surprised by those numbers. I’m with you. I would have felt like they would have been the least upset about Biden’s rhetoric. [01:03:09][8.8]
MECKLER: [01:03:11] You know, one thing that I’m seeing and I’m seeing this consistently across most of the polling that we do is the younger generation, 18 to 24 right now, the youngest that we poll is turning more conservative/libertarian. They don’t trust government. They don’t trust either party. They want government out of our business. It’s different, by the way, generally speaking, when I get into the 25 to 34, that tends to be the most woke generation, the most leftist generation. But 18 to 24 is turning the other direction. [01:03:39][28.0]
STARNES: [01:03:42] In your polling data and talking to these students, any indication of why that is, why we’re seeing that shift? [01:03:47][5.0]
MECKLER: [01:03:49] Yeah. You know, in talking to them and I get a chance to talk to a lot of people like this as I travel across the country. It’s a distrust for politics in general. It’s not about either party. They don’t like the power being wielded by Washington, D.C. These are people who have grown very cynical about power in Washington, D.C. and of course, that more closely matches the right or the libertarians in the United States of America. So I think it is this cynicism about Washington, D.C., that is driving this shift. [01:04:16][27.4]
STARNES: [01:04:18] Fascinating. Well, Mark, we appreciate you coming on to talk about this survey that just came out. And again, the only shocking part, I think, is the number of young people who understand how dangerous this sort of rhetoric is. But again, it is a very dangerous time in America, Mark. [01:04:37][19.2]
MECKLER: [01:04:38] It is. You know, and folks can find this survey, by the way, at conventionofstates.com and click on the press button. You’ll find all the details in our press release on it there. And if they want to get involved, they can do it at conventionofstates.com as well, because we have to push back against this kind of stuff. [01:04:52][13.6]
STARNES: [01:04:52] Well said. All right, Mark, we’re going to leave it there. Appreciate you coming on the show today. [01:04:56][3.5]
MECKLER: [01:04:57] Thank you, Todd [01:04:57][0.4]