With just six days to go until the midterm elections, President Joe Biden will deliver a prime-time address from Washington about threats to democracy.
The speech comes as at least 28 million Americans have already cast their ballots in the midterms – which will determine control of Congress for the remaining two years of Biden’s first term in office – per the U.S. Elections Project, and just days after the brutal attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Biden will speak about “the threat of election deniers and those who seek to undermine faith in voting and democracy,” according to a release from the Democratic National Committee.
The speech was first announced by White House deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon and senior adviser Anita Dunn at an Axios event.
O’Malley Dillon said that Americans can expect Biden to highlight the fact that “democracy works to make sure every vote is counted” and note “that there is a lot at stake in terms of democracy and everyone has a role in that.”
The speech will be held at Union Station’s Columbus Club, in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol. Dunn said that the setting is an “appropriate place” to hold the event due to its proximity to the Capitol, the site of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
“Because on January 6th we saw violence geared towards subverting democratic processes there,” Dunn said. “It is an appropriate place to make these remarks tonight.”
“The threat of political violence,” Dunn continued, “is something that unites almost all Americans and something we can all be united against.”
This is far from the first time that Biden has addressed threats to democracy and denounced those who seek to undermine the democratic process. In September, the president delivered a fiery speech in Philadelphia, warning that “equality and democracy are under assault” and attacking what he called “MAGA Republicans,” supporters of his predecessor.
“For a long time, we’ve reassured ourselves that American democracy is guaranteed,” he said at the time. “But it is not. We have to defend it. Protect it. Stand up for it. Each and every one of us.”
MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards,” Biden declared, adding: “Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology … but there’s no question that the Republican party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the ‘MAGA Republicans’ and that is a threat to this country.”
“America must choose to move forward or to move backwards,” the president said, before calling for Americans to “vote, vote, vote” to protect American Democracy.
This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.
