President Joe Biden on Thursday appeared cautiously optimistic about Democrat prospects in the midterm elections in November.
“So far, it looks like in the Senate we not only will hold but maybe pick up a couple seats,” Biden said to supporters at a fundraiser in Red Bank, New Jersey, with Governor Phil Murphy.
“‘God willing and the creek not rising’, as the old saying goes,” he added.
Biden admitted that Democrats are “running uphill” in the midterms, acknowledging the history of a shift in power in Congress after a president’s first two years.
“[W]ith only a couple exceptions, the first term of an incumbent President on the off-year election has been not a good deal most times,” he admitted.
He complained that there was a “lot of gerrymandering” in congressional districts, making it difficult to defend the majority in the House of Representatives.
But Biden also warned that democracy itself is being threatened by the opposing party, raising the stakes significantly in this year’s elections.
“There’s an overwhelming concern, literally, about democracy. I mean, I mean, not a joke,” he said, pointing to polling data coming in from across the country.
The president told supporters that keeping the Senate is essential to stop national restrictions on abortion and to push forward on an assault weapons ban.
He again brought up global warming, promising to continue advancing his green energy climate agenda.
“I mean, it sounds strange, but the very survival of the planet is at stake,” he said.
Biden boasted that he had achieved over $369 billion in federal spending for “climate investment,” which he argued was essential for mankind’s survival.
“Because if we don’t maintain below 1.5 degrees increase in the Celsius, it’s an existential threat to humanity,” he said. “That’s not hyperbole. I mean, it’s real. It’s real. It’s real.”