Biden leans into Jan. 6 messaging in first campaign ads of 2024

President Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign announced its first advertisements of the year on Thursday: a half-million-dollar campaign highlighting former President Donald Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

The campaign, which will launch on Saturday, the third anniversary of the riot, is titled “Cause” and is narrated by Biden. The lineup includes a 60-second television spot and both 15- and 6-second targeted ads on YouTube, Instagram, Connected TV, and other digital platforms. On television, the campaign will run in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin for one week starting on Saturday.

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“I made the preservation of American democracy the central issue of my presidency. I believe in free and fair elections and the right to vote fairly and have your vote counted,” Biden says in the full television ad. “There’s something dangerous happening in America. There’s an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy.”

“All of us are being asked right now, ‘What will we do to maintain our democracy?’ History is watching. The world is watching. Most importantly, our children and grandchildren will hold us responsible,” the president continues. “The vice president and I have supported voting rights since day one of this administration, and I ask every American to join me in this cause.”

Biden is facing a downswing in support among black, Latino, and young voters, and Democratic operatives familiar with his campaign strategy are concerned his reelection effort isn’t doing enough to clarify the “stakes” of the election.

The ads are being paired with several campaign events marking the anniversary of Jan. 6, including a speech near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, on Friday.

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“Led by Donald Trump, MAGA Republicans are running on an extreme platform of undermining the will of the American people who vote in free and fair elections, weaponizing the government against their political opponents, and parroting the rhetoric of dictators in service of forcing their extreme, unpopular agenda,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said of the campaign. “Over the last three years, MAGA Republicans haven’t shied away from the Big Lie — they’ve doubled down. This ad serves as a very real reminder that this election could very well determine the very fate of American democracy.”

You can watch the full advertisement below.