WASHINGTON – President-elect Jill Biden said Saturday that the nation of America was “on the brink of a historic moment” and that Americans should vote for someone “who will stand with us.”
Biden made the remarks as she campaigned for a Democratic House and Senate candidate in Wisconsin.
In Wisconsin, she spoke at a rally in Madison on behalf of Democrat Tammy Baldwin.
She has endorsed Baldwin, who has become a rising star in the state’s Democratic Party.
Baldwin, a U.S. Army veteran who has served as a senator, has been at the center of a congressional investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
As the vice president’s wife, Biden has spent the past year rallying support for her campaign and for the vice presidential ticket of Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Muslim-American, who is running for DNC chair.
“This is the most important election in our lifetimes,” Biden said.
“The American people are in the midst of a moment of reckoning, a moment when they need someone who will stand up to the Russian government.
They need someone to stand up for their rights and for their values.
We are a Nation of Heroes.
I am going to do everything I can to bring about that change.”
Biden also told supporters Saturday that he was ready to fight to defend the country against the threat of an “unprecedented Russian attack.”
“The Russians will try to do what they can to disrupt our democracy.
They will try and undermine our freedom.
And we have every right to defend ourselves,” Biden told a crowd of supporters in Madison.
“But I know that America is strong and resilient.
And so if there is a time in this nation when our values are threatened, I want to be there for America.
I want America to stand strong for our values.”
Bidens campaign team did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The vice president, who served in the U.N. for 13 years, has had to fight back against some of her harshest critics.
Ahead of her speech in Madison, Biden was questioned by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Russia during her tenure as secretary of state.
The questioner, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., pressed Biden about her support for sanctions against Russia, which critics say was designed to interfere with the election and hurt her presidential bid.
“If you were asked to give a statement to the Senate Committee and you were to say that you didn’t support sanctions on Russia because of what they did in the election, that would be the most outrageous and dishonest statement you’ve ever made,” Rubio said.
The White House has said Biden’s views on Russia were influenced by her personal experiences and a desire to be “strong, decisive, and tough.”
Biden’s campaign responded to the questions by pointing to her record of fighting to protect Americans from Russian attacks.
She was the first vice president to visit Moscow in 2012.
After the attacks, Biden said she was moved to speak out against the Russian military campaign in Ukraine.
When the campaign asked the vice-president about the U,N.
sanctions, Biden responded, “We had a very different position than the Russians.”
The White, House and DNC declined to comment.
In addition to Biden, the vice presidents running mate, Rep. Tim Kaine, also has been critical of Russian meddling in the presidential race.
Democrats have been trying to build momentum for their 2020 presidential bid by drawing parallels to 2016, when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was criticized for her ties to the country’s ruling party.
The Republican Party has repeatedly attacked her for supporting the sanctions.
This year, Democrats are hoping to capitalize on Biden’s support for the sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
