President Joe Biden will address the nation for the first time since announcing an end to his reelection bid, emphasizing his legacy and establishing benchmarks for the remainder of his term in the White House.
Biden dropped out of the election on Sunday, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. Harris has said she has earned enough support from delegates to secure that nomination, and will likely do so at a virtual roll call in early August.
As for Biden, he will make his first public remarks since that decision, and since he was diagnosed with COVID last week. Biden returned to the White House Tuesday after testing negative for the virus, according to officials.
His address will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, and will be streamed in the video player in this story once it begins. It will also air live on NBC 5, and on the NBC Chicago 24/7 News streaming channel.
Biden says his speech will focus on “what lies ahead, and how he will finish the job for the American people,” according to a social media post.
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He has faced calls from prominent Republicans to resign the presidency after dropping his White House bid, but has not responded directly to those calls.
Biden’s decision came after weeks of intense speculation over his future as the nominee, which was accelerated during a poor performance in the first presidential debate of the election cycle in late June.
Republicans blasted the president over concerns about his age, and three dozen Congressional Democrats issued calls for him to step aside from the race in the aftermath of that debate.
Biden told staff at the White House of his decision on Sunday, issuing a letter to the American people informing them that he was stepping out of the race.
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Harris will look to become the first vice president to ascend to the presidency since George H. W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis in the 1988 election. The last vice president to seek the White House was Al Gore, who was defeated by former President George W. Bush in the 2000 election.
It’s expected that Harris will be nominated by the Democratic National Committee before their convention in Chicago next month. A virtual roll call is expected to take place in early August, with Harris naming her running mate pick following that official pronouncement.
