President Biden at a public rally in Maryland on Thursday attacked "MAGA Republicans," former President Donald Trump, and took credit for rebuilding the country following the COVID pandemic. "The MAGA Republicans don't just threaten our personal rights and economic security," Biden said. "They're a threat to our very democracy. They refuse to accept the will of the people. They embrace -- embrace -- political violence. They don't believe in democracy." "It's not hyperbole. Now you need to vote to literally save democracy again," Biden said. "Look, I believe America is at a genuine inflection point. It occurs every six or seven generations in world history. One of the moments that changes everything. Americans are going to have to choose. You have to choose. Will we will be a country that moves forward or backward? Will we build a future or obsess over the past? Will we be a nation of hope, of unity, of optimism? Not a nation of anger, hatred, and division." "Trump and the MAGA Republicans have made their choice - to go backwards, full of anger, violence, hate, and division," he said. "But we have chosen a different path. Forward. The future, unity, hope and optimism. I mean this sincerely. We choose to build a better America." "What we're seeing now is either the beginning or the death knell of an extreme MAGA philosophy," Biden declared. "It's not just Trump, it's the entire philosophy that underpins the — I’m going to say something — it's like semi-fascism." "I respect conservative Republicans,” he added. “I don’t respect these MAGA Republicans.” “Donald Trump isn’t just a former president,” Biden said. “He is a defeated former president!” "When I came into office, we were facing a once-in-a-century pandemic," Biden said. "Historic joblessness, businesses struggling to stay open. So much lost learning for our kids in school. But we've come a long way. In 18 months, COVID no longer controls our lives."