US President Joe Biden will give what could be his final Oval Office speech on Wednesday to explain why he dropped out of November’s election and deny that he will spend six months as a lame duck.
With the world’s eyes already on a looming clash between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, Biden will insist in his address to the nation that he still has work to do despite his historic decision to bow out.
The 81-year-old Democrat said on X he would discuss “what lies ahead, and how I will finish the job for the American people” in the prime-time televised event at 8:00 OM (0000 GMT Thursday).
The speech, expected to last eight to ten minutes, will be Biden’s first since stepping aside from the race on Sunday after weeks of pressure following a disastrous debate performance against Trump.
It comes just over a week since his last Oval Office address following an assassination attempt against Trump on July 13, but is only the fourth of his presidency overall – and could well be his last.
With Harris, who has effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, and Trump back on the campaign trail, Biden will be fighting an uphill battle to show Americans he is not yesterday’s man.
‘Not Going Anywhere’
“I’m not going anywhere,” a hoarse Biden said as he called Harris at a campaign meeting in Delaware on Monday, adding that he was going to be “working like hell” both as president and to campaign.
With the clock ticking on his presidency, Biden said on X late Tuesday that it was “great to be back at the White House” after returning from Delaware and that he had met his national security team for a briefing.
Biden, who meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday, added that “we’re on the verge” of agreeing to a ceasefire.
He would not be the first US president to chase a legacy-defining Middle East peace deal, after Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and even Donald Trump before him.
But pointing to the way things are already moving on, Netanyahu will sit down separately with Harris, while Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he will meet with the Israeli leader on Friday.
Danny Kemp, with AFP
