US President Joe Biden made urges to the American citizens on the eve of Tuesday's midterms to protect democracy by defeating Donald Trump's Republicans in an election that polls show the sign of change in power, reports AFP.
With Republicans well placed to win at least partial control of Congress and Trump hinting at a 2024 White House comeback bid at his own rally late Monday, Democrats braced for the worst.
Even if Republicans win only the House of Representatives, that would scupper Biden's legislative agenda for the last two years of his first term and potentially lead to a weakening of US support for Ukraine's resistance against Russia.
"Our lifetimes are going to be shaped by what happens," Biden told an enthusiastic crowd at a historically Black university in Bowie, near Baltimore, late Monday. "We know in our bones that our democracy is at risk and we know that this is your moment to defend it."
"The power's in your hands," he told Democrats. "So vote, get out the vote."
An influx of far-right Trump backers in Congress would also accelerate the shift that has been taking place inside the Republican Party ever since the former real estate tycoon stunned the world by defeating Hillary Clinton for the presidency in 2016.
Despite facing criminal probes over taking top secret documents from the White House and trying to overturn the 2020 election, Trump is now using the midterms to strengthen his image as the de facto Republican leader and presumptive presidential nominee.
In a typically dark, rambling speech to fans in Dayton, Ohio, Trump said, "If you support the decline and fall of America, then you must, you absolutely must vote for the radical left, crazy people."
"If you want to stop the destruction of our country, then tomorrow you must vote Republican in a giant red wave."
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
