Republican denial of election results a ‘path to chaos’: Biden

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden warned Wednesday as the midterms campaign enters its final week that the refusal of some Republican candidates to accept election results is a “path to chaos in America.”

“There are candidates running for every level of office in America... who won’t commit to accepting the results of the elections they’re in,” Biden said in excerpts released by the White House from a speech he is to deliver in Washington later in the day.

“That is the path to chaos in America,” he said. “It’s unprecedented. It’s unlawful. And, it is un-American.

“As I’ve said before, you can’t love your country only when you win,” the Democratic president said in remarks to be delivered at 7:00 pm (2300 GMT) at the Union Station transit hub on Capitol Hill.

Biden’s warning about right-wing threats to democracy comes six days ahead of Tuesday’s vote, in which Republicans are favored to capture the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate.

With Republicans hammering his administration over the state of the economy, the 79-year-old Biden took aim squarely at Republicans who have cast their lot with former president Donald Trump and deny his 2020 election victory.

“This is no ordinary year,” he said. “In a typical year, we are not often faced with the question of whether the vote we cast will preserve democracy or put it at risk. But we are this year.”

Earlier in the day, Biden, in a White House event featuring union workers and employers, talked up the creation of infrastructure jobs while acknowledging that “inflation is still hurting people.”

“Last year, we signed a historic infrastructure law — once in a generation investment in roads, bridges, railroads, airports, high speed internet, clean air, clean water,” he said.

Democrats are being attacked by Republicans on inflation and fears of a looming recession, with the Federal Reserve repeatedly hiking interest rates.

The US central bank delivered another steep interest rate increase on Wednesday, raising the benchmark borrowing rate by 0.75 percentage points — the fourth straight increase of that size and the sixth hike this year.