Biden spoke early about Jan. 6 as a threat to democracy, referring obliquely to Trump as “my predecessor,” and polls show most voters agree with him that democracy is in trouble.

Only 28% of American adults said they were satisfied with the way democracy in the U.S. is working in a Gallup poll from December. In a December Navigator poll, two in three Americans were concerned about a repeat of the insurrection. In an August Morning Consult/Bipartisan Policy Center poll, 82% of voters said they were worried about U.S. democracy.

But Republicans, who remain convinced Trump is innocent of the 91 criminal charges he faces across four cases in different states (as he denies wrongdoing), are worried for different reasons. They believe the criminal cases against him are politically motivated. And Trump has continued to sow doubt about American institutions and the electoral process, undermining voters’ trust in institutions.

All of this could have major impacts for how the November elections go down.

-Monica Potts, 538

Biden reflected on the Jan. 6 attack, which took place in the same House chambers in which he is currently delivering his State of the Union address.

After saying "history is watching" in regards to the Russia-Ukraine war, Biden said, "Just like history watched three years ago on Jan. 6 when insurrectionists stormed this very Capitol and placed a dagger to the throat of American democracy."

Biden called the push to overthrow the 2020 election he won over Trump the "gravest threat to U.S. democracy since the Civil War."

Referencing the former president without referring to him by name, Biden said, "My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about Jan. 6."

"I will not do that," he added. "This is the moment to speak the truth and to bury the lies."

Biden pointed to his State of the Union guests impacted by restrictions placed on reproductive rights at the state level.

"History is watching another assault on freedom," he said.

He told the story of Latorya Beasley, a Birmingham resident who successfully had a daughter through in vitro fertilization and decided to try for one more child. Her treatments were halted when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled last month that frozen embryos are children under state law, which temporarily upended IVF access until Alabama legislators passed a new law.

Biden called for a similar federal bill.

"She was told her dream would have to wait. What she went through should never have happened," he said. "Unless Congress acts, it could happen again. So tonight, let's stand up for families like hers. To my friends across the aisle, don't keep this waiting any longer. Guarantee the right to IVF!"

Read more from ABC News' interview with Beasley before Thursday night's address.

Biden briefly called out the Supreme Court's conservative-leaning justices over the loss of constitutional abortion protections, saying that women will be motivated to turn out to vote later this year.

"In the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court majority wrote the following, and with all due respect, justices -- 'women are not without electoral or political power,'" Biden said

The president was referencing the 2022 majority decision reversing Roe v. Wade's nationwide guarantee to abortion access which stated that “women are not without electoral or political power." Since then, abortion access has won as an issue in a variety of elections around the country.

One of Biden's most notable moments in last year's speech was an off-script exchange with raucous Republicans on the issue of Social Security and Medicare.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has urged against history repeating itself, telling his conference behind closed doors earlier this week: "Decorum is the order of the day."

It's unclear if the lawmakers will heed his warning. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who stood up last year to call Biden a "liar," didn't rule out reacting to the president again when pressed by CNN.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the president is "ready for anything."