Biden seeks to rally Democrats ahead of crucial midterms

PHILADELPHIA — President Biden on Friday called the midterm elections one of the most important in modern history while seeking to rally Democrats ahead of it. 

“This off-year election, in my view, may be the most important off-year election in modern history because we know what happens, we know the fundamental change that shifts if we lose the House and the Senate. The only thing I’ll have then is a veto pen,” Biden said in remarks at the House Democratic Caucus’s annual issues conference in Philadelphia.

He warned that Democrats need to hold onto control of the House and the Senate in order to get his agenda done in Washington. 

“I thought we had to unify the country because ultimately we are a democracy. And there needs to be, for it to work, there has to be a consensus. And consensus, you’ve got to get a majority. We’ve not been able to do that for a lot of the important things, that’s why we have to continue to maintain our majority,” the president said. 

The president yelled at points throughout his comments and spoke softly, at times no louder than a whisper, in other moments. The room was a mix of lawmakers, their guests and family members, numbering several hundred. 

His remarks followed similar remarks on Thursday evening to Democratic National Committee members, during which he warned his party about the possibility of Republicans taking control of Congress.

Biden on Friday spoke to the record high gas prices and overall high inflation Americans are facing and that Republicans are working to blame Democrats for. He reiterated his argument that Russian President Vladimir Putin is to blame for the high price of gas due to the invasion into Ukraine. 

“Make no mistake, inflation’s largely the fault of Putin,” Biden said.

“I love, you know, the Republican’s saying its Biden’s gas pipeline, Biden’s said he’s going to stop the Keystone Pipeline and I did and that’s the reason prices went up. Folks let’s get something straight here, the Keystone Pipeline was two years away and had been 2 percent finished. Give me a break, give me a break,” he said.

He also spoke pointedly to his Democratic allies about his decision to not send U.S. troops into Ukraine. Earlier on Friday, Biden stressed that the U.S. and NATO allies would not fight Russia in Ukraine, describing such a scenario as World War III.

“The idea, the idea that we’re going to send in offensive equipment and have planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews, just understand, don’t kid yourself, no matter what you all say, that’s called World War III, okay?” he said. 

“Let’s get it straight here guys. The old expression: don’t kid a kidder,” he told Democrats.

Lawmakers applauded sporadically and laughed politely at Biden’s jokes, but mostly the cavernous room was silent — a rare stillness for the end of a conference when lawmakers, already exhausted from a trying week of late-night votes, were itching to get home.

Biden’s remarks to Democrats were part of their two-day retreat in Philadelphia. The panel before the president’s speech was on preserving voting rights, featuring former Attorney General Eric Holder, who was a member of former President Obama’s cabinet when Biden served as vice president.

The president outlined Democrats’ record that they should run on in the midterms, including passing the American Rescue Plan last year, without Republican support, and passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, with some support from Republicans. 

“It was the Democrats — it was you — that brought us back,” Biden said, noting the improved unemployment rate, vaccination rate and other wins in the fight against COVID-19 since Democrats took office.