US president Joe Biden addressed the nation on Wednesday to explain his historic decision to withdraw from the presidential race, delivering a reflective and hopeful message about the need to begin a new chapter in America’s story.
“I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term, but nothing – nothing – can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition,” Mr Biden said in the televised Oval Office address.
“So I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation. You know, there is a time and a place for long years of experience in public life. There’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices – yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now.”
The speech came three days after Mr Biden stunned the country with the announcement he would abandon his presidential campaign less than four months before election day.
As he contemplated the legacy of his five decades in public life, the president pledged to keep working to better Americans’ lives as he concludes his term as president. Some Republican lawmakers have suggested Mr Biden should resign rather than finish out his term, but the president firmly rejected those calls on Wednesday.
“Over the next six months, I’ll be focused on doing my job as president,” he said. “That means I’ll continue to lower costs for hard-working families [and] grow our economy. I’ll keep defending our personal freedoms and our civil rights – from the right to vote to the right to choose.”
Mr Biden specifically vowed to “keep working to end the war in Gaza, bring home all the hostages and bring peace and security to the Middle East”. Hours before Mr Biden’s speech, Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, delivered a divisive address to a rare joint session of US Congress in which he called for “total victory” in the war.
Mr Biden cited his own leadership on foreign policy, including his staunch support for Ukraine amid its war against Russia, as one of his proudest accomplishments. He reminded voters about the legislation he has signed to tackle the climate crisis, reduce gun violence and expand healthcare access.
Recalling the day of his inauguration in 2021, weeks after the January 6th attack on the Capitol and less than a year into the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Biden marvelled at how far the country had come in such a short time.
“We were in the grip of the worst pandemic in the century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the worst attack on our democracy since the civil war,” Mr Biden said. “We came together as Americans. We got through it. We emerged stronger, more prosperous and more secure.”
After withdrawing from the race on Sunday, Mr Biden endorsed his vice-president Kamala Harris, who has already consolidated the support of enough delegates to capture the Democratic nomination next month. In his speech, Mr Biden reiterated his praise of Ms Harris and underscored the immense choice facing voters this November.
“I’d like to thank our great vice-president, Kamala Harris,” Mr Biden said. “She’s experienced, she’s tough, she’s capable. She’s been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country. Now the choice is up to you, the American people.”
Before Mr Biden’s announcement on Sunday, more than 30 Democratic members of Congress had called on the president to drop out of the race following his disastrous debate performance last month. In the days leading up to the announcement, polls showed an increasing number of Democrats believed Mr Biden should step aside as Donald Trump’s narrow lead in the race began to grow.
Early surveys taken since Sunday suggest a neck-and-neck race between Mr Trump and Ms Harris, but the vice-president already appears to be in a slightly stronger position than Mr Biden was. Even as polls indicate a tight race, Mr Biden expressed confidence that Americans would choose to preserve democracy this November.
Quoting the Declaration of Independence and founding father Benjamin Franklin, Biden made the time-honoured argument for American exceptionalism.
“America is an idea, an idea stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant. It’s the most powerful idea in the history of the world,” Mr Biden said.
“That idea is that we hold these truths to be self-evident. We’re all created equal, endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights: life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. We’ve never fully lived up to it, to this sacred idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either, and I do not believe the American people will walk away from it now.”
It was a message that echoed Mr Biden’s campaign slogan in 2020, which framed the election against Trump as a “battle for the soul of the nation”. That battle remains ongoing, Mr Biden said, and it will now be up to the American people to decide how it will end.
“The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule. The people do,” Mr Biden said. “History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands. You just have to keep faith – keep the faith – and remember who we are.”
Shortly after Mr Biden spoke, Barack Obama, under whom Mr Biden served as vice-president for two terms, thanked him. On X, Mr Obama quoted part of a line from the speech – “The truth, the sacred cause of this country, is larger than any one of us,” – and said: “Joe Biden has stayed true to these words again and again over a lifetime of service to the American people.”
Mr Obama has so far notably refrained from endorsing Ms Harris as the Democratic candidate.
However, NBC News reported on Thursday that the former president plans to endorse her soon. Mr Obama privately has fully supported Ms Harris’s candidacy and has been in regular contact with her, the report said, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that Mr Biden has shown he is on the right side of history and the future. In a statement released after his Oval Office address, she called him “one of America’s most consequential presidents”.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer called Biden’s decision to withdraw “a great act of patriotism for this country you love so much”. – Guardian