President Biden on Wednesday evening will deliver a speech focused on threats to democracy ahead of the midterm elections and following the violent attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) husband last week.
The speech will be made on Capitol Hill, White House senior adviser Anita Dunn and deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon announced at an Axios event on Wednesday morning.
Biden will speak at the Columbus Club in Union Station at 7 p.m. The speech, hosted by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), will focus on the threat of election deniers and “those who seek to undermine faith in voting and democracy,” according to the DNC.
“I think you can expect to hear from him this evening, similar to what he’s been saying over the course of the last several months, that there is a lot at stake in terms of democracy and everyone has a role in that,” O’Malley said. “The other thing that will be really important [is] people will be able to vote … democracy works to make sure every vote is counted.”
Dunn called it appropriate that it will be made on Capitol Hill “because on Jan. 6, we saw violence geared towards subverting democratic processes there.”
Biden also made a prime-time speech focused on democracy in September from Philadelphia, which was centered around warning that former President Trump and Republicans aligned with him are threats to the country.
Dunn on Wednesday said that political violence is “something that unites almost all Americans and we can all be united against, and obviously we’ve seen horrible things happen quite recently — the Speaker’s husband.”
Paul Pelosi was attacked early Friday morning in the couple’s San Francisco home and underwent surgery for a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands. He remains hospitalized.
The suspected attacker, David DePape, who reportedly posted fringe conspiracy theories online, entered a not guilty plea for state charges on Tuesday. He was charged Monday with federal assault and attempted kidnapping as well as several state charges, including attempted murder.
Biden on Tuesday ripped Republicans who responded to the attack on Paul Pelosi by making jokes about it, and he criticized those who didn’t offer a full condemnation of the incident. Additionally, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has said that Americans have a responsibility to call out political violence in response to the latest details about the attack.