President Joe Biden will say in a speech to Americans Wednesday night ahead of next week’s midterm elections, in which Democrats face losses at the ballot box, that the “assault on democracy” is not over.
Biden will challenge candidates who have not committed to accepting the results of the Nov. 8 election, saying they are “un-American.”
The president will speak at 7 p.m. ET at the Columbus Club in Union Station, a few blocks from the Capitol — the site of the Jan. 6 riot where Donald Trump supporters attempted to stop certification of the 2020 election results.
His comments come as Democrats fear defeat at the ballot box in the Nov. 8 election. Republicans are preferred to win the House of Representatives. The Senate is more competitive.
It also comes in a climate of heightened political violence. Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul is in the hospital after he was attacked by a man who broke into their San Francisco home looking for the speaker.
Biden will remind voters that this is the first election since the Jan. 6 uprising, according to excerpts of his statements released by the Democratic National Committee.
“This is also the first national election since the events of January 6, when an armed, angry mob stormed the US Capitol. I wish I could say that the assault on our democracy ended that day. But I can’t,’ he will say.
“As I stand here today, there are candidates running for every office in America: for governor, for congress, for attorney general, for secretary of state, who do not commit themselves to accepting the results of the elections in which they vote. ‘
“This is the road to chaos in America. It’s unprecedented. It’s unlawful. And: It’s un-American,” he will remark. “Like I said before, you can’t love your country just by winning.”
President Joe Biden, speaking to Americans Wednesday night ahead of next week’s midterm elections, will say the “attack on democracy” is not over
Biden will ask Americans to keep that in mind as they prepare to vote.
“This is no ordinary year,” he will say. “So I ask you to think long and hard about the moment we are in.”
“In a typical year, we are not often faced with the question of whether our vote preserves or endangers democracy. But we are this year,” he will say.
The speech will be delivered by the party’s political arm, not the White House.
Several Republican candidates have declined to say whether they would accept the results of their contests.
And Donald Trump continues to spread the false claim that he won the 2020 election. Meanwhile, a majority of Republican candidates up for election this November for the House, Senate and key statewide offices — 291 in all — have denied or questioned the outcome of the last presidential election, according to a Washington Post analysis.
Union Station, the site of Biden’s remarks, has become a crime hotspot in the nation’s capital as a Starbucks closed in July over security concerns and homeless people pitched tents outside the entrance.
There was also a shooting outside the station’s Shake Shack in September.
The location of the speech was deliberately chosen to draw comparisons to the January 6 uprising.
“He’s going to deliver this speech from Capitol Hill … because on January 6 we saw violence aimed at undermining democratic processes. So it’s an appropriate place to make those comments tonight,” White House Counsel Anita Dunn told an Axios panel.
She said the President ‘is going to make it very clear tonight that he’s speaking to people who don’t agree with him on anything, who don’t agree with his agenda, but who can really unite behind this idea of this core value of democracy.’
He will also demand patience with the results. Several Republican candidates have not said whether they would accept the election result.
Biden will emphasize that it may take some time for the results to be tallied, but that this should not undermine confidence in the results, his deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon said.
The speech comes amid an aggravated political climate and as fears of violence mount after Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul was assaulted last week by a man who broke into their San Francisco home looking for the speaker. She was not at home at that time. Paul Pelosi was hit with a hammer and required skull surgery but is expected to recover.
Biden often speaks about fighting for the “soul of the nation” and has said that democracy is on the ballot.
But polls show the economy is the top concern of voters ahead of the Nov. 8 election, which will decide who will control Congress.
A Gallup poll conducted on Monday found that 49% of respondents said the economy was their top concern, followed by abortion and crime at 42% and 40% respectively.
Union Station, the site of Biden’s remarks, is their own crime hotbed.
The building, a hub of Amtrak and commuter trains, has become a site of safety concerns.
Starbucks closed its outpost there this summer over concerns about crime in the building, which also houses shops and restaurants. Once a popular dining spot, its reputation has gone downhill.
A large number of homeless people also use the station as a shelter.
Trump’s MAGA supporters in the Capitol on Jan. 6
However, Biden’s target audience for his comments could be his own Democrats.
An NPR/PBS/Marist poll found that enthusiasm has waned among Democratic voters compared to Republicans.
Black voters, Latinos and young voters – all major Democratic constituencies – are among the least enthusiastic about the election.
Meanwhile, older voters, Trump supporters, white evangelical Christians, and country voters — all large Republican groups — are poised to vote.
Democrats see upholding democracy and abortion rights as motivators for their base.
Since the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs, Roe v. Wade, Biden and his proxies have stressed that reproductive rights are at risk, citing Republican efforts to pass legislation banning abortion.
Biden frequently mentions both issues on the stump. He even brought it up in Wednesday’s interview on the Smartless podcast while speaking with hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett.
“People have to vote,” said the President. “Look, the best example is the Supreme Court in the Dobbs decision, where there’s a line from one of the justices that says, ‘Women have the right to vote. We’ll see if they do.’ You saw what happened in Tennessee. Women showed up and voted. Women are signing up men for this new election significantly for the first time.’
Biden also voiced his concerns about election deniers.
“I worry about the states that have the election deniers in them, which practically makes it harder for them to vote. That’s what worries me about Supreme Court voting decisions that are coming down, that are going to come down,” he said.