President Joe Biden condemned political violence, voter intimidation and misinformation during an impassioned prime-time speech Wednesday ahead of the pivotal mid-term elections next week.

Biden said U.S. democracy itself is at stake on Tuesday when votes are counted across the country.

"This institution, this intimidation, this violence against Democrats, Republicans, and nonpartisan officials just doing their jobs, are the consequence of lies told for power and profit, lies of conspiracy and malice, lies repeated over and over to generate a cycle of anger, hate, vitriol and even violence," Biden said during the speech at Union Station in Washington D.C.

He said the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the assault of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband in their San Francisco home are signs of a vulnerable democracy.

Biden's delivered his condemnation of political violence amid a campaign where polls show Republicans making headway with their focus on crime and the economy.

Biden did not mention former President Trump by name, but Trump was still a main theme.

"American democracy is under attack because the defeated former president of the United States refuses to accept the results of the 2020 election," Mr. Biden said. "He refuses to accept the will of the people. He refuses to accept the fact that he lost."

Biden blamed Trump for the violence.

"It was an enraged mob that had been whipped up into a frenzy by a president repeating over and over again the big lie, that the election of 2020 had been stolen," Biden said. "It's a lie that fueled the dangerous rise in political violence and voter intimidation over the past two years."

Biden sought to shift the focus to election deniers, arguing their ascension to elected office will erode the credibility of the country's democracy.

"As I stand here today, there are candidates running for every level of office in America — for governor, Congress, attorney general, secretary of state — who won't commit, that will not commit to accepting the results of the election that they're running in," said Biden. "This is a path to chaos in America. It's unprecedented. It's unlawful, and it's un-American."

According to the New York Times, more than 370 Republican candidates have questioned or denied the results of the 2020 election. Trump has endorsed many of those candidates.

"I ask you to think long and hard about the moment we're in," Biden concluded. "In a typical year, we're often not faced with questions of whether the vote we cast will preserve democracy or put us at risk. But this year we are. This year I hope you'll make the future of our democracy an important part of your decision to vote and how you vote."

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