CNN
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President Joe Biden on Wednesday said American democracy is under attack from election deniers running for office at all levels as he seeks to make protecting democracy a top priority in next week’s midterm elections. I warned you.
“This intimidation, violence against Democrats, Republicans, and nonpartisan officials just doing their job creates a cycle of lies, conspiracies and malicious lies, anger and hate told for power and gain. It’s the result of lies repeated over and over again in , violence, even violence,” Biden said. “In this moment, we must confront these lies and truths. Our country’s very future depends on it.”
The speech, a political event hosted by the DNC, not the White House, highlights what Biden has been insisting on for weeks since his primetime speech in Philadelphia. The speech, which covered many of the same topics the president touched on Wednesday night, was criticized by Republicans and others for being too political for an official White House event.
The setting of the speech near the Capitol is meant to refer to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol that was intended to sabotage Biden’s proof of victory.
An adviser to the president told CNN that Biden and his team had been thinking about giving a speech on the topic for some time –democratic rhetoric and threats of violence.
One recent headline that particularly alarmed Biden and his top advisers was last week’s violent attack on Paul Pelosi, which officials said was politically motivated.
A shocking burglary and attack on Pelosi led to the 82-year-old man being taken to hospital for surgery, after which he is recovering from a skull fracture, among other injuries.
Advisors said ahead of the speech that Biden felt it was important to directly condemn these kinds of threats and acts of violence. He also said he would like to speak directly to election deniers to counter Republican elected officials and candidates who have publicly said they may refuse to accept the results of next week’s election. They said
The theme of defending the soul of the nation and the pillars of the nation’s democratic system was central to Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. The president has since spoken on these topics throughout his tenure as president, but Wednesday’s speech shows an effort to highlight what’s at stake ahead of the midterm elections. increase.
Defending democracy has been a vibrant feature of Biden’s mindset this season, appearing more abundantly in off-camera conversations with Democrats. Democratic donor group at .
“How can you say you actually care about democracy when you deny the existence of victory? ” he said at an event held in the beachfront backyard of his Golden Beach, Fla., mansion.
“This hasn’t happened since the Civil War. It may sound like an exaggeration, but it hasn’t been as bad since then,” he said.
Biden’s reference to the Civil War seems no coincidence. He was seen this week holding a copy of historian John Meacham’s new book “And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and America’s Struggle.”
Meacham is Biden’s unofficial adviser and has helped write some of his most high-profile speeches.
In his remarks at a Florida fundraiser, Biden referred to the attack on Paul Pelosi, which he said was not surprising given Republican rhetoric. The official said it was one of the reasons they decided to give the speech, but the plan had been in the works for some time.
“Look at the reaction from Republicans, the so-called reaction, joking about it and saying, ‘Well, it’s not because of what’s been said and what’s not said,'” Biden assaulted. talked about
“The reason people are doing what they are doing is that there are a lot of unstable people out there who are as populous as we are. When we listen, we see these outrageous lies all over the place,” Biden said.
“How can I be surprised?” he asked. “The man buys a hammer to bring the third-ranked candidate to become President of the United States to his knees, which is to say, the second-ranked candidate to become President of the United States. I’m not denouncing exactly what is.”
Biden traveled to Philadelphia two months ago to urgently condemn former President Donald Trump and those who support his attempt to undermine democracy.
“Equality and democracy are under attack as I stand here tonight,” Biden said at the time.
At the time, Biden flatly warned of what he called “extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
