Remarks by President Biden on Standing up for Democracyhttps://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/11/03/remarks-by-president-biden-on-standing-up-for-democracy/...
All of this happened after the assault, and it just — it’s hard to even say; it’s hard to even say — after 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 United States Capitol on January the 6th when they broke windows, kicked in the doors, brutally attacked law enforcement, roamed the corridors hunting for officials, and erected gallows to hang the former Vice President, Mike Pence.
It was an enraged mob that had been whipped up into a frenzy by a President repeating over and over again the Big Lie that the election of 2020 had been stolen.
It’s a lie that fueled the dangerous rise in political violence and voter intimidation over the past two years.
Even before January the 6th, we saw election officials and election workers in a number of states subject to menacing calls, physical threats, even threats to their very lives.
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You know, American democracy is under attack because the defeated former President of the United States refuses to accept the results of the 2020 election. He refuses to accept the will of the people. He refuses to accept the fact that he lost.
He has abused his power and put the loyalty to himself before loyalty to the Constitution. And he’s made a Big Lie an article of faith in the MAGA Republican Party — the minority of that party.
The great irony about the 2020 election is it’s the most attacked election in our history. And yet — and yet, there is no election in our history that we can be more certain of its results.
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This is the struggle we’re now in: a struggle for democracy, a struggle for decency and dignity, a struggle for prosperity and progress, a struggle for the very soul of America itself.
Make no mistake — democracy is on the ballot for us all.
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We want Americans to vote. We want every American’s voice to be heard.
Now we have to move the process forward. We know that more and more ballots are cast in early voting or by mail in America. And we know that many states don’t start counting those ballots until after the polls close on November 8th.
That means, in some cases, we won’t know the winner of the election for a few days — until after a few days after the election. It takes time to count all legitimate ballots in a legal and orderly manner.It’s always been important for citizens in a democracy to be informed and engaged. Now it’s important for citizens to be patient as well. That’s how this is supposed to work.
This is also the first national election since the events of January 6th, when the armed, angry mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. I wish — I wish I could say the assault on our democracy had ended that day, but I cannot.
As I stand here today, there are candidates running for every level of office in America — for governor, Congress, attorney general, secretary of state — who won’t commit — they will not commit to accepting the results of elections that they’re running in.
That is a path to chaos in America. It’s unprecedented, it’s unlawful, and it’s un-American. As I’ve said before, you can’t love your country only when you win.
This is no ordinary year. So I ask you to think long and hard about the moment we’re in. In a typical year, we’re often not faced with questions of whether the vote we cast will preserve democracy or put us at risk. But this year, we are.
This year, I hope you will make the future of our democracy an important part of your decision to vote and how you vote.
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