Biden to tell primetime audience passing the torch to Harris is ‘best way to unite our nation’

President Joe Biden will portray his decision to drop out of the 2024 race during his highly-anticipated primetime address to the nation as his last act in defense of democracy, according to experts.

“The defense of democracy is more important than any title,” Biden is expected to say from the White House‘s Oval Office on Wednesday, according to his prepared remarks. “I draw strength, and find joy, in working for the American people. But this sacred task of perfecting our Union is not about me. It’s about you. Your families. Your futures. It’s about ‘We the People.’”

“I have decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation,” he will say. “That is the best way to unite our nation.”

In his remarks, written in consultation with longtime aide Mike Donilon and only his fourth to be delivered from the Oval Office, he will also say: “The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule. The people do. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America – lies in your hands.”

Across the street, people are gathering in Lafayette Square as part of a thank you rally for Biden organized by more liberal organization MoveOn.

Biden not seeking reelection means that the end of his administration on Jan. 20 will end his time in Washington, D.C., to which he first started commuting in 1973 after he became one of the youngest senators in history, then a newly widowed father-of-two. His first wife Neilia and their one-year-old daughter Naomi died in a holiday car crash months earlier.

After 36 years in the Senate, former President Barack Obama chose him to be his two-term vice president before discouraging him from contesting the presidency against eventual 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, one year after he lost his eldest son Beau to cancer.

Wednesday night’s address, the first of its kind since former President Lyndon Johnson made a similar announcement in 1968, will be the second public comments Biden has made about his decision to stand aside, other than his letter last weekend and social media post endorsing Harris.

Calling into Harris’s first appearance at their campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware on Monday as a presidential candidate before later that night she became the presumptive Democratic nominee, Biden underscored his pride in their team and promised that he is “not going anywhere.”

“I know yesterday’s news is surprising and it’s hard for you to hear, but it was the right thing to do,” Biden told about 100 aides, some of whom were crying. “I know it’s hard because you’ve poured your heart and soul into me to help us win this thing, help me get this nomination, help me win the nomination and then go on to win the presidency… I know how hard you’ve worked, how many sacrifices you’ve made, and so many of you uprooted your lives for me.”
 
As campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a former Harris Senate staffer, held up a phone to the microphone of a podium set up in a room decorated with new “Harris” signs, Biden implored the group to “embrace” Harris because “she’s the best,” adding “the name has changed at the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn’t.”

“We still need to save this democracy,” Biden said. “I’ve got six months left of my presidency, and I’m determined to get as much done as I possibly can, both foreign policy and domestic policy; keep lowering costs for families; continue to speak out on guns and childcare, eldercare, prescription drugs, and climate.”

“Climate still is the existential threat that we face, and if we don’t win this thing, it’s all in jeopardy,” he went on. “We’ve got to keep working for an end to the war in Gaza. I’ll be working very closely with the Israelis and with the Palestinians to try to work out how we can get the Gaza war to end, and the Middle East peace, and get all those hostages home. I think we’re on a verge of being able to do that.”

Harris repeatedly praised Biden during the event, reiterating that she loved him and that his 50-year career had been consequential, in addition to during her first rally as his heir apparent in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Tuesday and during an official stop for the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated’s Grand Boulé in Indianapolis, Indiana on Wednesday.

“In this moment, I believe we face a choice between two different visions for our nation: one focused on the future, the other focused on the past,” the vice president said Wednesday. “With your support, I am fighting for our nation’s future.”

“We know when we organize, mountains move. When we mobilize, nations change. And when we vote, we make history,” she continued. “So let’s continue to fight with optimism, with faith, and with hope. Because when we fight, we win.”

Nationally, Trump has an average 2 percentage point edge on Harris in early polling conducted this month since the debate, according to RealClearPolitics.