President Joe Biden is highlighting his argument that American democracy is at risk in his first campaign ad of the election year, putting renewed emphasis on a topic that has become a key touchstone throughout his presidency. 

What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden is highlighting his argument that American democracy is at risk in his first campaign ad of the election year
  • The ad conincides with the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack on Saturday
  • Biden is set to deliver his first 2024 speech on the same topic this week
  • The topic has become a key touchstone of his presidency 

The 60-second spot, narrated by Biden, will coincide with the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack on Saturday, and comes as the incumbent president is set to deliver his first speech of 2024 on the same topic on Friday near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. (The speech was initially set for Saturday but rescheduled due to inclement weather in the area.)

The president’s reelection campaign intends the ad to serve as a reminder that this year’s election could “determine the very fate of American democracy,” Biden-Harris 2024 Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. 

“Led by Donald Trump, MAGA Republicans are running on an extreme platform of undermining the will of the American people who vote in free and fair elections, weaponizing the government against their political opponents, and parroting the rhetoric of dictators in service of forcing their extreme, unpopular agenda,” she added. 

The half-a-million-dollar spot will launch on Saturday and air for a week on national television news and local evening news in major battlegrounds states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. 

The Democratic president is set to deliver a speech on the threats to American democracy and mark the Jan. 6 anniversary near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania – where the Continental Army trained and reorganized under General George Washington during the American Revolution – on Friday. The address was originally scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 6 but was moved up a day in anticipation of the expected winter storm in the area.

“I’ve made the preservation of American Democracy the central issue of my presidency,” Biden says in the ad, reiterating his argument that there is “something dangerous happening in America right now” – a point he made in a speech to celebrate a library to be built in honor of Sen. John McCain in September. 

The Arizona speech marked Biden’s fourth one focused on what he sees as the risks American democracy faces -- an issue that has been a touhstone for him as he grapples with low approval ratings. He delivered addresses with similar messages on the Capitol attack’s first anniversary, at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall and amid the 2022 midterm elections.