Biden warns democracy is at stake in U.S. midterms, urges voters to reject violence

Pointing in particular to the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, the president warned false claims of election fraud are fueling a rise in political violence.

After weeks of reassuring talk about America’s economy and inflation, U.S. President Joe Biden turned Wednesday night to a darker, more urgent message, warning in the final days of midterm election voting that democracy itself is under threat from former President Donald Trump’s election-denying lies and the violence he said they inspire.

Pointing in particular to the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, he said that Trump’s false claims about a stolen election have “fueled the dangerous rise of political violence and voter intimidation over the past two years.”

Six days before major midterm elections, Biden said, “As I stand here today, there are candidates running for every level of office in America, for governor, for Congress, for attorney general, for secretary of state, who won’t commit to accepting the results of the elections they’re in.”

“That is the path to chaos in America,” he declared. “It’s unprecedented. It’s unlawful. And it is un-American.”

The president, who has been focused on drawing an economic contrast between Democrats and the GOP, shined a spotlight on “ultra MAGA” Republicans — a reference to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan — calling them a minority but “driving force” of the Republican Party.

Pointing to mounting concerns over political violence as well as threats of America’s long tradition of hard-fought but peaceful and accurate elections, he said these Republicans are “trying to succeed where they failed in 2020 to suppress the rights of voters and subvert the electoral system itself.”

The speech came days after a man seeking to kidnap House Speaker Pelosi severely injured her husband, Paul Pelosi, in their San Francisco home and as physical threats have rattled members of Congress and election workers.

“There’s an alarming rise in the number of people in this country condoning political violence or simply remaining silent,” Biden said. “The silence is complicity.”