President Joe Biden has warned America will be on the “path to chaos” if Republican candidates refuse to accept defeats in next week’s crucial midterm elections.
“Make no mistake, democracy is on the ballot for all of us,” Mr Biden said in a speech just days before Americans decide whether Democrats maintain control of both the US Senate and House of Representatives or hand over power to Republicans.
Speaking at Washington’s Union Station on Wednesday night, Mr Biden used the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as evidence that democracy is under threat less than two years after the attack on the US Capitol by supporters of his defeated predecessor Donald Trump.
“The assailant entered the home asking, ‘Where’s Nancy? Where’s Nancy?’ Those were the very same words used by the mob when they stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6 (2021),” Mr Biden said.
He urged voters to “think long and hard about the moment we are in.”
“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,” he said.
Mr Biden said election deniers have been inspired by Mr Trump, who is pondering a run for president in 2024 just as his Democrat successor considers if he wants to seek another four-year term.
Mr Biden said “American democracy is under attack” because Mr Trump will not accept the results of the 2020 election that he lost to him.
“He refuses to accept the will of the people, he refuses to accept that he lost,” he said.
Calling out the hundreds of candidates who have denied the 2020 election result and now refuse to commit to accepting the results of Tuesday’s midterms, Mr Biden said: “This driving force is trying to succeed where they failed in 2020 to suppress the rights of voters and subvert the electoral system itself.
“That is the path to chaos in America. It’s unprecedented. It’s unlawful. And it is un-American.”
Most midterm forecasts predict Republicans will take control of the House, while the Senate - currently split 50/50 but under control of the Democrats thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris’s casting vote - is said by experts to be a “coin-flip”.
Meanwhile, former president Barack Obama hit the campaign trail in Arizona and where he again raised concerns about the state of democracy.
He told Democrat supporters “democracy as we know it may not survive in Arizona” if election deniers fill the top state offices.
Some Republicans sharply criticised Mr Biden’s remarks.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who stands to succeed Ms Pelosi if the Republicans retake control of the chamber, tweeted: “President Biden is trying to divide and deflect at a time when America needs to unite-because he can’t talk about his policies that have driven up the cost of living. The American people aren’t buying it.”
