'Democracy on the Ballot,' Along With 300 Election Deniers: Biden

President Joe Biden is urging voters to reject hundreds of candidates running for every level of office who he says are having a "corrosive" effect on democracy by refusing to accept the results of their elections.

With just six days until the November 8 midterm election, Biden made a dire plea to voters to uphold American democracy in a primetime speech Wednesday. The president called the coming vote "unprecedented," saying more than 300 "election deniers" aligned with former President Donald Trump are on the ballot across the country. During the speech, Biden said voters will not only determine if his party maintains control of Congress, but if democracy remains viable.

Biden delivered the speech at Union Station in Washington, D.C., just blocks from the U.S. Capitol where a mob of Trump supporters attempted to prevent certification of the 2020 presidential election on January 6, 2021. Asking Americans to reject all political violence, he referenced the recent attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, saying the suspect called out the same words as the January 6 mob: "Where's Nancy?"

In his remarks, Biden noted that the 2022 midterm is the first election since the January 6 siege.

"I wish I could say the assault on democracy ended that day," Biden said. "I cannot."

Instead, Biden said, there are candidates running for governor, Congress, state attorneys general and secretary of state seats who are following what he said is Trump's example of refusing to accept the results unless they are deemed the winner.

"Recent polls have shown an overwhelming majority of Americans believe our democracy is at risk; that our democracy is under threat," Biden said. "They see that democracy is on the ballot this year."

Trump has insisted he was the rightful winner of the 2020 presidential election, and that the vote was marked by widespread irregularities despite being contradicted by multiple courts, state audits and members of his own administration.

Since leaving office, Trump has maintained significant influence in the Republican Party and has campaigned for his chosen candidates in state GOP primaries.

Reporting by The Washington Post last month counted a total of 291 candidates for House, Senate and key statewide offices who have denied or questioned the results of the 2020 election. An analysis by Newsweek found that of these election-denying candidates, 189 are favored to win their races.

Biden in September delivered a blistering primetime speech outside Philadelphia's Independence Hall where he denounced Trump and his "MAGA Republicans" as extreme and a threat to "the very foundations of our republic."

During his Wednesday speech, Biden made fewer mentions of MAGA Republicans, calling them a minority of the GOP, as he asked "all Americans, regardless of party to meet this moment of national and generational importance."

"From the very beginning, nothing has been guaranteed about democracy in America," said Biden. "Every generation had to defend it, protect it, preserve it, choose it. That's what democracy is: choice."

Biden continued that voters must choose between sustaining a "republic where reality is accepted" or "dark forces" and their "thirst for power."

Similar to his speech in Philadelphia, Biden was accused of trying to divide the electorate while ignoring threats facing conservative figures while distracting from the country's ongoing economic woes that threaten to put his party out of power in Congress.

"Biden gave the most DIVISIVE speech in American history two months ago, and tonight, he outdid himself once again," Texas Republican Representative Ronny Jackson said in a tweet. "Biden is going to get served with a whole bunch of Democracy on November 8th. Democrats are going to be SWEPT OUT of power. On Tuesday, MAGA is going to WIN BIG!!!"

Katrina Trinko, editor-in-chief of the conservative Daily Signal, called out Biden for not mentioning an assassination attempt on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh or protests outside the homes of other conservative justices.

Colorado Republican Senate candidate Joe O'Dea tweeted, "President Biden's speech tonight to the nation missed the mark. Again."

"People are hurting," he said. "We need change."