Biden to address threats to democracy in major speech before midterms

President Biden will deliver a big speech on democracy at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday night, less than one week out from the highly-consequential midterm elections.

"The president will address the threat of election deniers and those who seek to undermine faith in voting and democracy; and the stakes for our democracy in next week's election," the Democratic National Committee said in a statement, per Axios.

Viewers can expect Biden to repeat rhetoric similar to that of the last several months: "There is a lot at stake, including democracy, and that everyone has a role in that," White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O'Malley Dillon said Wednesday, per Axios and NBC News.

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Senior Adviser Anita Dunn also highlighted the speech's setting — near the U.S. Capitol — as integral to its message. Biden will be "making the speech from Capitol Hill ... [b]ecause on Jan. 6 we saw violence geared toward subverting the democratic processes so it's an appropriate place to make these remarks tonight," Dunn said.

Though the president has been mulling such an address for a while, the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, as well as the presumed signs that some Republican officials might not accept the results of the election, has "added to the urgency," NBC News writes.

Further, Biden will also underscore the time it might take to count votes in certain battleground states, per O'Malley Dillon.