Biden warns democracy is under assault and calls for Americans to stand against

CNN
 — 

President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a warning that American democracy is under assault from election deniers who are running for office at all levels as he tries to make defending democracy a top issue in next week’s midterm elections.

“This intimidation, this violence against Democrats, Republicans and non-partisan officials just doing their jobs, is the consequence of lies told for power and profit, lies of conspiracy and malice, lies repeated over and over to generate a cycle of anger, hate, vitriol and even violence,” Biden said. “In this moment, we have to confront those lies with the truth, the very future of our nation depends on it.”

The speech – a political event hosted by the DNC, not the White House – underscored the points Biden has been making for weeks since a prime time speech in Philadelphia. That address, which covered many of the same topics that 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 Capitol Hill is meant to reference the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol building intended to interrupt the certification of Biden’s win.

Advisers to the president tell CNN that Biden and his team had been contemplating giving a speech on this very topic for some time – but that their decision-making and thinking in recent days have been shaped by what they’ve viewed as a surge in anti-democratic rhetoric and threats of violence.

One recent headline in particular that has deeply alarmed Biden and his top advisers: the violent attack against Paul Pelosi last week that authorities say was politically motivated.

The shocking home intrusion and attack on Pelosi landed the 82-year-old in the hospital for surgery, and he has since been recovering from a skull fracture, among other injuries.

Advisers said ahead of the speech that Biden felt that it would be important for him to directly condemn these kinds of threats and acts of violence. He will also want to speak directly to election deniers, they said, in an effort to counter, in part, Republican elected officials and candidates who have openly said they may refuse to accept the results of the upcoming election next week.

The theme of protecting the soul of the nation – and the pillars of the country’s democratic system – were central to Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. The President has since spoken about these topics throughout his presidency, but Wednesday’s speech will mark an effort to emphatically underscore what is at stake heading into the midterms.

Defense of democracy has been an animating feature of Biden’s thinking this political season and has emerged more abundantly in his off-camera conversations with Democrats. The day before his speech in Washington, Biden warned a group of Democratic donors in Florida that “democracy is on the ballot” this year – and offered something of a preview of his message for a…