U.S. President Joe Biden is set to deliver what could be his final Oval Office speech on Wednesday, where he will address his decision to withdraw from the November election and counter claims that he will become a lame duck president.
Despite the anticipated clash between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, Biden will emphasize that he still has important work to complete.
The 81-year-old Democrat announced on X that he will discuss “what lies ahead, and how I will finish the job for the American people” during the primetime address, scheduled for 8:00 p.m. (0000 GMT Thursday).
The speech, expected to last eight to ten minutes, will be his first since he dropped out of the race on Sunday following a poor debate performance against Trump.
Biden had promised in his withdrawal announcement—made while isolating with Covid at his Delaware beach home—to provide more details about his unexpected decision. This upcoming speech follows his last Oval Office address on July 13, after an assassination attempt on Trump. It will be only his fourth Oval Office address of his presidency and might be his last.
With Harris, who is likely the Democratic presidential nominee, and Trump actively campaigning, Biden faces a challenge in demonstrating that he remains relevant. Republicans have called for his resignation, arguing that if he is unfit to seek reelection, he should not continue as president.
Biden, who will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday, remains focused on the economy and working towards a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. He asserted, “I’m not going anywhere,” and vowed to continue working hard both as president and in the campaign.
Biden is not the first U.S. president to pursue a legacy-defining Middle East peace deal, following in the footsteps of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and even Donald Trump. However, as the situation evolves, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have separate meetings with Harris, while Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he will meet Netanyahu on Friday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
With Biden’s presidency nearing its end, he posted on X late Tuesday about his return to the White House after being in Delaware, noting that he had briefed his national security team. Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race has, paradoxically, energized the Democratic Party, which had been troubled by debates over his age.
On Tuesday, Harris received enthusiastic support during a campaign rally in Wisconsin, her first since securing the necessary delegates for the nomination. She could be officially nominated as early as early August in a virtual vote by Democratic delegates, ahead of the party’s convention in Chicago later that month.
Harris now faces the challenge of sustaining the early enthusiasm within her party and translating it into electoral success in November. A recent poll shows her slightly ahead of Trump following Biden’s withdrawal, but she remains vulnerable to criticism of her performance during her first two years in office.
