Joe Biden has warned that Trump will attempt to “steal” the midterm elections, in what for him is a rare public address.
He was being honored in South Carolina for his lifetime achievement in politics. Biden also said the US is experiencing “dark days”, in a speech made hours before the Trump administration launched attacks on Iran.
Reprising a line from the 2020 campaign that saw him defeat Trump and end his first presidency, Biden told the crowd at the Columbia Museum of Art on Friday that the “battle for the soul of this nation is one that’s never really over”. He simultaneously criticized Trump’s plan to introduce potentially prohibitive voting requirements ahead of the midterms.
“In America, the power still belongs to the people for now,” he said. “And the way to show the power is vote, show up and vote. And folks, when we do that, that’s bad news for Donald Trump, and he knows it.
“That’s why he’s trying to pull out more and more barriers – put them up. He’s trying to steal the election, because he knows he can’t win your vote, so he’s going to do everything he can to prevent you from wanting to vote.”