Jon Meacham Explains Why He Spoke at the DNC: ‘Democracy’s on the Ballot’

Presidential historian Jon Meacham explained on Friday why he spoke at the Democratic National Convention and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden. Meacham is a frequent guest on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and told host Joe Scarborough why he endorsed a presidential candidate for the first time.

“The choice is clear, right,” Meacham said. “As John Lewis taught us, if you see something, say something. And what we all see is what we all spend so much time talking about and thinking about, which is that the things that make the country worth defending, that make it worth the struggle toward a more perfect union, however flawed we are are under assault.”

“And as the Vice President said last night, democracy’s on the ballot. It’s a moment of great crisis and crisis in Greek remember it comes from health care. Crisis was the moment in a disease when the patient lived or died. That’s the origin of crisis coming into the vernacular.”

“And so I’ve been friendly with Vice President Biden for a long time, he asked if I would do this, and my sense was, which this is what I believe so I’m going to say it. I’m not a Democrat. I’m not a Republican either. I voted for both parties.”

“And I just think that when the evidence of our own eyes is so compelling, which is that this president is disastrous for democracy with a lower case D, we have an obligation to do what we can. And so, I sat in my interactive dork office, as you saw there, and said what I thought.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.