In a speech that comes just six days before the polls close, the US president said democracy is under attack because Donald Trump refused to accept the results of the 2020 election. Pointing to the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Mr. Biden warned that Trump’s false claims of a stolen election have “fueled a dangerous rise in political violence and voter intimidation over the past two years.” Paul Pelosi, 82, was seriously injured after being attacked with a hammer at his California home last week. “There is an alarming increase in the number of people in this country who condone political violence or are simply silent,” Biden said. “Silence is complicity.” He singled out “super-MAGA Republicans” – a reference to Mr Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan – saying they are a minority but a “driving force” in the Republican Party. This group is “trying to succeed where it failed in 2020 to suppress voters’ rights and subvert the electoral system itself,” he added. Read more: Pelosi’s alleged attacker told police he was on a ‘suicide mission’ and planned to target other politicians. “There are candidates for every level of office in America, for governor, for Congress, for attorney general, for secretary of state, who will not commit to accepting the results of the elections in which they are running. “This is the road to chaos in America. It’s unprecedented. It’s illegal. And it’s un-American.” In a country where many people vote early, more than 27 million Americans have already cast ballots in the first election since the January 6, 2021, uprising. Five people were killed and more than 140 police officers were injured on the day Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building – the seat of American power in Washington. Mr Trump has been accused of inciting his supporters in an attempt to overturn the results of an election held a few months earlier. On Wednesday, Mr. Biden asked voters to “think long and hard about the moment we’re in,” adding: “In a typical year, we don’t often face the question of whether the vote we cast will preserve democracy or put it in risk – but we are this year.’
