The week before Labor Day appeared to be a debate on the battle of the "soul" of the nation. President Joe Biden ramped up his attacks on MAGA-supporting Trump Republicans. The Trump side, led by the former president, fought back. Meanwhile, Republican infighting spilled out into the open with Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) taking shots at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. These are the quotes of the week.

“Let me just say this: As the person that had the most access to the most intelligence — you know, in the intelligence community we talk about degrees of confidence, low degree of confidence, moderate degrees of confidence, high degrees of confidence. I had a high degree of confidence that the origins of COVID-19 were in the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Now, I was the top intelligence official, and that was my opinion.”

“There is a reason Democrats are eager to keep Trump at the center of the conversation: half of independents say Trump is a major factor in their vote, and they’re breaking 4-1 for the Democrats. Republicans shouldn’t play that game. If they do, they’re cruising for a bruising.”

"I think what's important is to state the facts as they are. He's gotta be honest and express what he feels in his heart and his soul and I think that's probably exactly what he did."

"We were in Afghanistan to prevent the development of violent extremist organizations that were flourishing there, particularly al Qaeda and ISIS. ... And I believe we have less capability now than we did before to monitor and suppress the development of those activities.

"So in that sense, yes, I believe we are less safe now than we were before."

"He looked at me, and he's just like light. He said, 'I just need you to know: When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison.'"

"I'm determined to ban assault weapons in this country."

"I’m sorry, but I can't join a chorus of fond Gorbachev memories. In January 1991, his Soviet tanks rolled into my mother's homeland & killed 14 innocent Lithuanians standing in defense of their TV tower & democracy. Like Putin, Gorbachev used barbarism to try to destroy freedom."

“What were they doing in the desk? And when you look at these particular things right here, at least five yellow folders marked 'Top Secret' and another 'Secret SCI.' That stands for 'sensitive compartmentalized information.' These are the biggest secrets in the world!”

"[MAGA Republicans are] an extreme threat to our democracy, to our freedom, to our rights."

“We have absolutely every intention of holding the House.”

"We have to put up with him for a period of time, but eventually, he'll be gone."

“If you want to talk about the need to raise more money to promote our candidates versus the Democrats’ terrible candidates, I agree. If you want to trash-talk our candidates to help the Democrats, pipe down.”

“MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards.”

“I will not stand by and watch elections in this country stolen by people who simply refuse to accept that they lost.”