Biden will deliver his first speech since dropping his re-election bid. What you need to know – National

US President Joe Biden will deliver his first public address since ending his campaign for a second term on Wednesday evening, in which he is expected to outline his rationale and goals for the remainder of his presidency.

Biden will deliver a speech from the Oval Office at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, which will be televised on primetime. He will be eagerly awaiting his speech and will also outline his record of administration. Democrats are now hoping that Vice President Kamala Harris, who endorsed Biden when he withdrew and has become the new presumptive nominee, will continue his legacy.

“The president wants to build on the historic initiatives that he has been able to achieve,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday during a preview of the speech. She pointed to sweeping domestic legislation, renewed alliances abroad and other achievements that Biden has made despite “a difficult political environment.”

Harris, addressing the historically black Zeta Phi Beta sorority in Indianapolis on Wednesday, previewed Biden’s speech, saying, “He’ll talk not just about the work, the extraordinary work, that he’s done, but his work over the next six months.”

3:33
Harris in the spotlight as heir to Biden’s campaign

Biden announced in a letter posted on social media on Sunday that he was ending his re-election campaign, forcing Democrats to scramble for a new solution with just 100 days to go until the November presidential election.

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The party quickly rallied around Harris, with top lawmakers and a majority of representatives previously pledging to support Biden. The party also raised a record $81 million in the 24 hours after Harris launched her campaign.

That enthusiasm quickly turned sour after three weeks of panic and mounting calls for Biden to withdraw from the race, following the president’s disastrous debate performance last month, in which Biden struggled to finish sentences and craft arguments against his Republican opponent Donald Trump.

Over the next 25 days, growing numbers of Democratic lawmakers and top party supporters argued that Biden was no longer an effective candidate to beat Trump, and urged him to step aside. Donors stopped writing checks, with some publicly stating they would not resume their contributions until Biden was no longer the nominee.

Biden initially remained stubborn, including in high-profile interviews and press conferences in which he defended his record and said that only “the Lord Almighty” would convince him to drop his re-election bid. The campaign also maintained that Biden would not leave, even hours before Biden released his letter saying otherwise.

Jean-Pierre declined to answer many questions about the reasons for Biden’s decision during her first press conference since last week, saying she did not want to get ahead of herself.

4:27
What Happens If Biden Withdraws From the 2024 Presidential Race?

She said the president met with “a small group of advisers” and his family on Saturday night to consider how to proceed, and informed his staff that he was withdrawing from the race just before his written announcement on Sunday afternoon.

She also pushed back against the suggestion that Biden’s health led to his decision and that it would hamper his ability to serve out the final six months of his term or even another four years.

“I think it speaks to how honorable this president is, how selfless this president is, that he could make this decision and say, ‘This isn’t about me, this is about the American people, this is about the country,’” she said. “I think that speaks for itself.”

Jean-Pierre also declined to say whether Harris would be more closely involved in the day-to-day running of the country as she seeks to succeed Biden if she wins in November.

“The president and the vice president speak regularly, they see each other regularly,” she said.

“The president is committed to being president and leading this country forward in the way that he thinks Americans want to see this country move forward. And the vice president will continue to be a critical partner. That will not change.”

Biden’s decision to withdraw his candidacy also emboldened congressional Democrats, who feared the incumbent president would undermine their chances of retaining the Senate and retaking the House of Representatives.

Republicans, who currently hold a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives, have already attempted to roll back some of the Biden administration’s legislative gains, signaling they would further threaten Biden’s legacy with full control of Congress and the White House.

—With files from the Associated Press

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