Historians advise the president. The problem? The scholars were all white.

President Joe Biden argued that Donald Trump's supporters pose a threat to U.S. democracy during an address billed as the "battle for the soul of the nation" at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia on Thursday. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

When President Biden spoke on Sept. 1st, to tell the nation that democracy is in danger, his warnings echoed the words of many who have been paying attention. Especially those who study the past.

Not a month earlier, the president met with a group of handpicked historians who told him that democracy was teetering, hanging on by a thread.