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Biden to give prime-time warning on US democracy

Biden pays tribute to queen as 'stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy'
Source: Wikimedia Commons

President Joe Biden will sound the alarm on threats to US democracy in a rare prime-time address to the nation in the key swing state of Pennsylvania Thursday as his party fights to hold on to Congress in the midterm elections.

The Keystone State — which will host Biden three times in the coming days, including on Tuesday — is one of the most hotly contested battlegrounds on the midterm map.

The Democratic leader will echo his 2020 campaign theme about the battle for the “soul of nation” in historic Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution were written.

The outcome of the upcoming Senate election in Pennsylvania could decide whether the Democrats cede control of the evenly divided upper chamber of Congress to the Republicans for the next two years.

Initially preferring to present himself as a unifier in a deeply divided country, Biden has recently been concentrating his fire on Trumpist Republicans he has accused of embracing “semi-fascism.”

The 79-year-old Democrat, who narrowly beat Trump in Pennsylvania in 2020, will bookend Thursday’s address with two other visits to the state.

Republicans have presented themselves as the party of law-and-order amid a nationwide spike in murders — with some success, according to multiple polls — while accusing Democrats of wanting to defund the police.

The president is expected to set out his party’s action on gun violence Tuesday, highlighting the bipartisan gun safety package he signed into law, as well as substantial new funding for policing.

The president is due for his third Pennsylvania stop-off in six days on Monday when he heads to Pittsburgh to celebrate Labor Day with Oz’s Democratic midterm rival, John Fetterman.

Republicans were heavy favorites to make big gains in both chambers in this cycle but an unexpected special election victory in New York’s Hudson Valley has given Democrats hope of averting a washout.

Every seat in the House is up for election in November, while 36 of the 100 Senate spots are up for grabs — 20 of which are currently held by Republicans.

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AFP

Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency.







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