President Joe Biden plans to deliver a “major speech” on protecting democracy on Wednesday night after the violent attack on the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and with the midterm elections just days away.
In a hurriedly arranged speech, Biden will call on the nation to take threats to democracy seriously after a right-wing extremist broke into Pelosi's San Francisco home and severely injured her husband, Paul.
“There is a lot at stake, including democracy, (and) everyone has a role in that,” deputy White House chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon told Axios on Wednesday.
Biden plans to directly address those who deny the results of the 2020 election as well as those who have fanned the flames of politically motivated violence with overheated rhetoric, aides say.
The speech, with historic Union Station in Washington, D.C., as a backdrop, comes just days before Tuesday's elections and as millions of Americans are already casting their ballots early in record numbers.
Biden is said to be personally distraught over the near-fatal attack on Paul Pelosi, which he sees as a direct result of the Republican campaign to vilify Pelosi and other senior Democrats, aides say.
Some senior Republicans and public figures, including Donald Trump Jr. and Elon Musk, have downplayed the seriousness of the attack or spread false conspiracy theories about it.
Biden and his Democratic allies draw a direct line between the rise of Republican supporters of former President Donald Trump’s lies about the election system and the rising tide of politically motivated threats and actual violence.
They point to the GOP efforts to downplay or excuse the violent Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
But Republicans mostly scoff at the Democratic claims, defending their virulent attacks on Pelosi and other Democrats as normal election-year politicking.
San Francisco police say there is no doubt that accused attacker David DePape was radicalized by right-wing political rhetoric and targeted the Pelosis because of Nancy Pelosi’s position as a top Democratic leader.
DePape, 42, who trafficked in right-wing conspiracy theories on social media, faces attempted murder and a string of other state and federal charges.
Police plan to release Paul Pelosi’s 911 call, body camera footage, and other evidence that they say debunk baseless lies about the attack.
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