In a speech delivered from the Oval Office on Wednesday night, President Biden said his decision to exit the 2024 presidential race was motivated by a desire to protect the country from the consequences of a Trump victory in November.
“I revere this office, but I love my country more,” Biden said. “It has been the honor of my life to serve as your president, but in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, there’s things more important than any title.”
Here are the key takeaways from Biden’s first speech since dropping out of the 2024 campaign and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him.
Biden doesn’t mention Trump by name
While Biden did not mention Donald Trump by name, it was clear from his remarks that he viewed the prospect of his rival’s victory in November as inviting disaster for the nation.
“I made it clear that I believe America is at an inflection point, one of those rare moments in history, where the decisions we make now determine the fate of our nation and the world for decades to come,” Biden said. “America is going to have to choose between moving forward or backward. Between hope and hate. Between unity and division. We have to decide, do we still believe in honesty and decency, respect, freedom and democracy.”
Likewise, Biden refrained from mentioning his own vice president, who is now the clear frontrunner to take on Trump.
“I have decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That is the best way to unite our nation,” Biden said.
Not resigning
With many Republicans calling on Biden to resign as president in light of his decision not to seek a second term, the president made clear that he does not intend to do so.
“Over the next six months I will be focused on doing my job as president,” Biden said. “That means I will continue to lower costs for hard-working families and grow our economy. I will keep defending our personal freedoms and our civil rights — from the right to vote to the right to choose.”
Biden also pledged to “keep calling out hate and extremism,” to continue working on his “cancer moonshot,” on Supreme Court reforms, to continue to support Ukraine in its war with Russia and to seek an end to the fighting in Gaza.
Stumbled over some words
As he read his speech from a teleprompter, Biden, 81, occasionally stumbled over his words.
“In this moment, we can see those we disagree with not as enemies — as, but as fellow Americans — can we do that?” he said at one point.
His delivery was at times halting and unsteady. Following Biden’s much-criticized debate performance on June 27, Democrats who questioned whether he was still up to running for a second term in office mounted a pressure campaign that eventually led him to drop out of the race.
“You know, we’ve come so far since my inauguration,” Biden said. “On that day, I told that as I stood in the winter, I stood in a winter of peril and a winter of possibilities. Peril and possibilities. We’re in the grip of the — we were in the grip of the worst pandemic in the century.”
Biden’s legacy
Biden’s speech also conveyed a concern for how he would be remembered.
“I ran for president four years ago because I believed, and still do, that the soul of America was at stake, the very nature of who we are was at stake, and that’s still the case,” he said.
But the president also listed what he saw as some of his most important accomplishments, including signing toxic burn pit legislation to help U.S. soldiers, passing the “first major gun safety law in 30 years,” overseeing a drop in the violent crime rate, nominating the first Black woman to the Supreme Court and helping to pass the country’s “most significant climate law.”
“I’ve given my heart and my soul to our nation, like so many others, I’ve been blessed a million times in return with the love and support of the American people,” Biden said. “I hope you have some idea of how grateful I am, to all of you.”
