Biden to speak on threats to democracy ahead of midterms

WASHINGTON DC: President Joe Biden will deliver remarks Wednesday evening on threats to democracy, as he seeks to raise the stakes for voters less than a week before the midterm elections.

Biden, who has repeatedly said that “democracy is on the ballot” on Nov. 8, will speak from Capitol Hill, the site of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, White House senior adviser Anita Dunn told Axios on Wednesday morning.

“It's from Capitol Hill, because that is where there was an attempt to subvert our democracy,'' Dunn said.

Previewing Biden's remarks, Dunn said Biden “will be very clear tonight that he is speaking to people who don't agree with him on any issues, who don't agree on his agenda, but who really can unite behind this idea of this fundamental value of democracy.”

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

“The threat of political violence which most Americans find abhorrent, the idea that you would use violence to further your political means, it's something that unites almost all Americans and that we can all be united against, and obviously, we've seen horrible things happen quite recently,” Dunn told Axios.