Biden says Trump has ‘death grip’ on Republicans and is ‘primary threat’ to democracy in Univision interview

Joe Biden says that Donald Trump currently has a “death grip” on the Republican party and that the former president would be the “primary threat” to US democracy should he be re-elected.

In a recent sit-down interview, the president said that Mr Trump would be “a dictator on day one” if he returned to the Oval Office, and that his control over the GOP was already “incredibly dangerous”.

During the interview, which was set to air on Univision on Tuesday evening, Mr Biden was quizzed on topics including foreign aid, border control and the importance of Latino voters. Mr Biden spent large portions of the interview blasting his political rival.

A rematch of the 2020 US election between Mr Trump and Mr Biden – which will be the first rematch election in almost 70 years – is now all-but certain in November. Neither has faced any significant opposition since former UN ambassador Nikki Haley bowed out of the Republican presidential candidate race in March.

Speaking to interviewer Enrique Acevedo, Mr Biden attacked those in the Republican party who were “afraid” to take on Mr Trump. “Look,  this is not your father’s Republican Party, as that old saying goes, this is a different breed of cat… Trump runs that party,” he said.

“He maintains a sort of death grip on it. Everybody’s afraid to take him on  whether they agree with him or not, and it’s incredibly dangerous. The last thing we need is to see Nato start to break apart. It would be a disaster for the United States, a disaster for Europe, a disaster for the world.”

Asked what he saw as the “primary threat to freedom and democracy” in the US he replied. “Donald Trump. Seriously.”

He continued: “Donald Trump uses phrases like, we’re going to eviscerate the Constitution. He’s going to be a dictator on day one.

“The idea that he would sit in the office… the  Oval  Office  and  watch for hours the attack on the Capitol and the destruction and the mayhem and the people who were killed, the police officers who died and called them political heroes, call them patriots.

“And saying that if he gets elected, he’s going to free them all because they’re being held illegally. I mean… and think of the things he says. Look at the way he talks about minority populations or Hispanics, you know.”

Mr Trump has been criticised over his language when referring to migrants, specifically those crossing the US/ Mexico border. He has said the United States is being “poisoned” by migrants and that “in some cases, they’re not people.”

Despite this, he has seen a recent uptick in support from Latino voters.

“I can’t think of any other time in my lifetime, in history… that you’ve had somebody who’s had this kind of attitude,” Mr Biden said. “He says he’s going to… be a dictator on day one. No one doesn’t believe him.”

He added: “How can you love your country only when you win? And his attitude about what he should be able to be doing and what the power of presidency is. He wants to suspend parts of the Constitution. Who in God’s name would say that?

“He  has a very, very, I think, jaded  view  of  the  Constitution. He made it clear that he doesn’t plan on abiding by parts of it if he thinks it’s not appropriate… At least he’s saying it out loud.”