Biden quietly met with a group of historians who warned him about threats to democracy and compared the current moment to the pre-Civil War era, report says

• The Washington Post reported that the president met with historians at the White House.

• According to people familiar with the conversation, they warned Biden about the rise of communism.

• They compared the Civil War and pro-fascism sentiment to World War II.

The Washington Post reported that a group of historians warned the president about threats to democracy.

According to sources familiar with the August 4 meeting, the experts described the current situation as one of the most dangerous to Democracy in modern history.

University of Virginia historian Allida Black was one of the people in the meeting. The speechwriters for Biden were also in the meeting.

According to The Post, the small group discussed threats to American democracy and the dangers of communism around the world.

The scholars compared the current state of affairs to the era before the Civil War as well as fascist movements that emerged ahead of World War II. They noted the election of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Some of the experts in the meeting spoke about threats to democracy. Applebaum wrote a book in 2020 about the rise of right-wing populism and democratic decline.

The White House didn't reply immediately.

Biden often seeks outside experts to give guidance on domestic and foreign policy issues. He met with a group of foreign-policy experts in January ahead of an anticipated Russian invasion of Ukraine and in May he met with former President Bill Clinton.

According to The Post, the tradition of US presidents seeking big picture context from historians began with President Ronald Reagan but did not go well under President Donald Trump.

Historians have been warning about the threat to democracy since the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021.

According to Insider's Charles R. Davis, historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat said that the Capitol attack still poses a threat to US democracy. The systems that protect against a presidential abuse of power are no longer functioning and democracy is in a "dangerous" position according to Ken Hughes.

Business Insider has an article on it.