President Biden is set to break his silence on the midterm election results in a White House press conference this afternoon.
The president will deliver a speech at 4 p.m. after his party outperformed expectations for the midterm election. The speech will be followed by questions from reporters — a presidential tradition that some speculated may be broken by Biden due to his rare availability for lengthy back-and-forth sessions with the media.
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“Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to defend, strengthen, and renew it,” Biden said on his presidential Twitter account on Wednesday. “I’ll have more to say this afternoon, but thanks to the poll workers and officials that worked into the night to safeguard our sacred right to vote. And the millions who made their voices heard.”
Republicans are expected to take a narrow control of the House of Representatives and the fate of the Senate will come down to three races yet to be called: Nevada, Arizona, and a run-off election in Georgia. Democrats successfully fought off a series of tight challenges in both chambers that were believed to be an opportunity for a strong Republican majority.
Before the vote, Biden predicted that GOP majorities in Congress would make life more “difficult” for him as president. But by the time he speaks Wednesday, the fate of the Senate will not yet be determined, and even the House majority has not been made official, although projections say the GOP should have a slim advantage.
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As vice president in 2010, Biden faced historic losses in the midterms as Republicans netted 63 seats in the House and seven seats in the Senate. Former President Barack Obama, in his address one day after the election, described it as a “shellacking” and clear message of rejection to his party.
“Now I’m not recommending to every future president that they take a shellacking like I did last night,” he said. “I’m sure there are easier ways to learn these lessons.”
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Biden is expected to take a different tone on Wednesday after his party’s campaign focus on persevering democracy and abortion access appears to have fended off large Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress. The president, in his final week on the campaign, visited mostly blue areas such as California, New York, and Illinois.
The exception was his visit to Pennsylvania with Obama to support Senate candidate John Fetterman, who defeated Republican candidate Mehmet Oz Tuesday.