-Checking 5 Biden Warnings about Dangers to Democracy

During Wednesday’s primetime speech from Union Station in Washington, D.C., near Capitol Hill, President Joe Biden warned of the dangers to democracy and called for an election.

Biden mentioned the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol Riot and spoke several times about former President Donald Trump. He also stated that political violence is on a rise.

Here are five claims.

1. ‘Overwhelming Majority’

Biden stated that democracy, which is generally defined to be the ability to hold free and fair elections is on the ballot.

“We will have our differences of opinion, and that’s how it should be. But there’s more at stake. Democracy itself. Biden stated that he wasn’t the only one who sees it. Recent polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that democracy is in danger, and that democracy is under threat. They also see that democracy is on this year’s ballot.

A recent New York Times/Siena College survey found that 71% believed democracy was at risk and only 28% believed that their votes would be counted properly. The Times article described the concern as “remarkably indifferent” to economic concerns.

The poll showed that 33% of respondents viewed Democrats as a threat, while 28% thought Republicans were a threat. 59% of respondents believed the mainstream media was a threat.

55% of Republicans believed that voting by mail was a threat to democracy. However, 72% of Democrats supported it. Only 48% of independents believed mail-in voting was a threat to democracy, compared with 55% of Republicans.

81% of those who believe democracy is in danger believe that existing laws and institutions can save it.

2. ‘Election Deniers’

Biden warned that election deniers were “destructive.”

Biden stated that it was estimated that there are 300 election deniers in America this year. We can’t ignore its impact on our country. It’s harmful, it’s corrosive and it’s devastating.

This number is based on a CBS News tally. says, “Indeed more than 300 Republican candidates for national office and state have been identified by CBS News to be ‘election deniers’ because they refused to accept the results for the 2020 presidential election as valid.”

The Brookings Institution was a left-leaning thinktank that also had the same number.

Newsweek reported that Biden’s party spent more than $43million in Republican primary contests across nine states through the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the House Majority PAC. These candidates were thought to be easier to defeat.

It’s not clear if denial of an election result has increased in recent years. A 2017 Harvard Harris survey showed that 68% of voters didn’t believe Democrats had legitimately elected Trump president. This included 65% of Democrats who believed this to be true. Meanwhile, 69% and 69% of Republicans and 69% respectively said that Democrats had not accepted Trump’s legitimacy as a president.

This was because his opponents, Hillary Clinton claimed that the 2016 election was rigged without providing any evidence. One-third of voters for Hillary Clinton believed that Trump’s win was fraudulent. This number grew later.

A February 2021 survey comparing 2020 election with 2016 election showed 87% of Democrats believed the 2020 election was fair while 62% thought the 2016 election was unfair. However, 61% of Republicans didn’t view the 2020 election fair, while 82% said that the 2016 election was fair.

A NBC News poll last month found that 65% of Republicans believe Biden was not fairly elected.

3. ‘Suppress’ or ‘Subvert’

Biden also referred to a favorite line of Democrats and said that “MAGA Republicans” support voter suppression.

Biden stated that “they are trying to succeed in 2020, to suppress voters’ rights and subvert the electoral process itself.” “This means that they will deny you your right to vote and decide whether your vote is even counted. They are not waiting for an election to be over. They are instead starting now. They are already starting. They have encouraged violence and intimidation against voters and election officials.”

Biden didn’t give specific details about how Republicans suppress and subvert voting. He has always been critical of reforms to election laws in the past.

Biden was particularly critical of Georgia, which he called “Jim Eagle” or “Jim Crow 2.0.”

However, Georgia saw a record-breaking turnout for early voting this year, both in person and absentely, as compared to previous midterm elections. This is a rare situation.

Additionally, the Peach State primary saw a 168% overall growth in 2022 compared to the 2018 primary.

A national Gallup poll was released Wednesday showing that 41% of Americans plan to vote early or have already voted in a poll , compared with 34% in 2018. CNN reported more than 24,000,000 votes had been cast in 46 states that allow early voting.

The Justice Department of the Biden administration has sued Georgia, Arizona, and Texas for voter suppression.

In Texas, however, the primary turnout was 17.7% in 2022 with approximately 3 million votes, compared with 17.2% in 2018 primary, which saw 2.59 million ballots being cast. The record turnout for the 2022 Arizona primary was 35.12%. That’s 1.4 million more ballots than the 33.3% in 2018, which saw 1.2 million ballots.

4. “No Election in History”

Biden claimed that the 2020 election in which he defeated Trump was the most certain in human history because it faced numerous legal challenges in courts and multiple recounts in several closely-contested states.

Biden stated that the great irony of the two-twenty [2020] election was that it was the most criticized election in our history. Yet, there is no election that we can be more certain about its results. “Every legal challenge that could’ve been brought was brought. Every recount that could’ve been done was done.

Biden would have been correct if he meant that recounts and court challenges didn’t reverse the vote count. It is however doubtful to claim that any election in history was more certain.

In the past, Presidents Ronald Reagan (and Richard Nixon) won 49 states, respectively, in 1984 and 1972. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson won 44 States. Reagan won the same number of states in his 1980 first term. President Franklin Roosevelt won 46 out of 48 states in his 1936 re-election win.

Biden won 25 states and the District of Columbia in 2020 to defeat Trump.

5. ‘Violence’ and ‘Silence’

Biden spoke about the beating of Paul Pelosi (husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi), D-Calif. at their San Francisco home.

Biden stated, “We must speak as a nation with one, overwhelming, united voice and say there’s not place – no spot – for voter intimidation, or political violence in America.”

The president stated that there has been an increase in political violence.

Biden stated that there has been an alarming increase in the number of Americans who condone violence or remain silent. Silence is complicity.

In August, an Ipsos poll found that 85% of Americans don’t think it acceptable for members of their own party use intimidation or threats to achieve political goals. Data doesn’t show any increase in public acceptance or support for political violence.

During the summer 2020 riots, Kamala Harris (now Biden’s vice-president) tried to raise bail money to help those who were involved in the riots.

Protests in many cities erupted after the Minnesota murder of George Floyd. They began in May and escalated to riots. Biden did however make reference to violence, stating in June 2020 that “There’s not place for violence, or for looting or disfiguring property, burning churches, or destroying business.” He also said in late May 2020, “Protesting such brutality, is right and necessary.” It’s an American response. But, burning down towns and causing unnecessary destruction is not the right response.

However, Biden answered a question about Antifa during the 2020 presidential debate. He said that Antifa was an idea and not an organization.

Biden also did not speak out regarding the June assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. But Karine Jean Pierre, Biden’s press secretary, finally said. “Any threat of violence or attempts at intimidation of justices has no place in our society.”

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