President Biden addressed the nation for the first time following his decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. The president says he intends to complete his term in the White House.
incoming update…
Evan Vucci/AP Photo/Bloomberg via
President Biden was joined in the Oval Office by multiple family members and staff for his address to the nation Wednesday night.
Seated to the president’s left, just off camera, were first lady Jill Biden, daughter Ashley, her husband, Howard Krein, son Hunter, granddaughters Maisy, Finnegan and Naomi, and grandson Hunter.
Senior adviser Mike Donilon was also seated in the room, with advisor Steve Ricchetti standing next to him.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and advisor Ben LaBolt were standing in back of the Oval Office, near the portraits of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.
Ashley Biden had her eyes closed for most of the speech, nodding silently and breathing deeply as her father spoke. At one point, she dabbed her eyes with the sleeve of the Olympic-themed shirt she was wearing.
Other Biden family members, including the first lady, kept intense watch on the president, nodding slowly.
Ashley held her mother’s hand at the end of the speech.
Fox News’ Sarah Tobianski contributed to this report.
President Biden was slammed for his remarks from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening that his administration is lowering border crossings at a better rate than under former President Donald Trump.
“Biden: ‘We are also securing our border. Border crossings are lower today than when the previous administration left office'”, communications director for the State Freedom Caucus Network, Greg Price, posted to X.
“A lie so pathetic that you almost have to laugh”, he added.
Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace took aim at President Biden’s speech on Wednesday evening for stumbling over his words at times.
“Pour one out for the closed captioning people…” Mace quipped in an X post.
Former President Donald Trump also slammed Biden’s roughly 11-minute speech, writing on his Truth Social account that “Crooked Joe Biden’s Oval Office speech was barely understandable, and sooo bad!”
President Joe Biden has just gone from being his own worst enemy to being Kamala Harris’ greatest asset. I say that because the bumbling, unsure Joe Biden of three and a half weeks ago and since the disastrous presidential debate was absent on Wednesday night.
To be sure, there were a few moments, indeed more than a few moments, where he stumbled over his words and expressions in his Oval Office address to the nation. But far more important was the brief 10-minute or so summary Biden offered Americans of his accomplishments. On Wednesday night, in the absence of a partisan political campaign, they suddenly seemed far more compelling than they did in the course of the now ended Biden-for-President effort.
I say that because every point that Biden’s approval goes up from here on out will undoubtedly translate into additional support for Vice President Kamala Harris in her race against Donald Trump.
In his brief address, Biden convincingly made a case for his leadership — both domestically and overseas — without direct partisan attacks or shrill and harsh rhetoric.
Most tellingly, Biden struck a theme that neither he nor the Democrats could have articulated while he was a candidate: “Passing the torch to a new generation.” The president sought to inoculate Harris, perhaps not entirely convincingly, on her greatest liability — the Southern border and unfettered illegal immigration.
Similarly, Biden made what I thought was a strong case for unity, stability and, most of all, democracy.
Still, I don’t believe, nor would I mean to imply that this speech in any way changes or fundamentally alters the campaign to come. But it suggests that Joe Biden has been revitalized and can play three important roles for Vice President Harris.
First, as chief advocate for the Biden domestic and foreign policy. Second, as chief advocate for a new, and frankly untested, face on the national stage – the sitting vice president. And third, not to be underestimated, after Wednesday’s speech, there will be a revitalized and resurgent ability to raise vast sums of money to combat Donald Trump and the Republicans.
Make no mistake, Joe Biden, with his brief 10-minute address, has gone from being a pariah among donors to a likely celebrity again. The president, who just one short week ago was shunned by the party’s richest and most influential donors, will undoubtedly be welcomed back into living rooms from the Upper East Side to West Los Angeles as he makes the case simultaneously for his administration and that of his hoped-for successor.
Finally, the president’s speech gives Democrats an asset they frankly lacked until Wednesday night: a sitting president who can make the case for the Party. Biden no doubt will join with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to demonstrate newfound Democratic unity both at the convention and beyond. Harris now has an opportunity at that convention, both on her own and with her choice of vice president, to lay out her own vision of the America she hopes to lead.
I still regard Donald Trump as the front-runner in the 2024 election, as the polls narrowly show. But with a newly compelling Joe Biden, a united Democratic Party and three presidents to advocate on her behalf, Kamala Harris has a far better chance of winning this election than anyone thought possible just a few days ago.
President Biden was flanked by members of his family while he addressed the nation from the Oval Office in his first speech since dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
The president was joined by first lady Jill Biden, daughter Ashley Biden, son Hunter Biden, as well as grandchildren such as Maisy Biden, Naomi Biden, and Finnegan Biden.
Photos from inside the Oval Office showed some members of the Biden family become emotional and crying after the president wrapped up his speech. First daughter Ashley Biden was seen hugging her father after he finished his roughly 11-minute address.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) poked fun at President Biden during his address to the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday after he appeared to freeze and jumble his words.
“BIDEN v. TELEPROMPTER (Teleprompter remains undefeated)”, an account associated with the RNC posed on X during the speech.
Biden, 81, has battled a life-long stutter, and has often drawn criticism for his speech, especially when related to concerns over his health.
His poor performance in the first presidential debate, in which he spoke with a raspy voice, led to the widespread calls from within his own party for him to drop out of the 2024 race.
President Biden addressed the nation for the first time on Wednesday since bowing out of the 2024 election, saying he is passing the torch to “a new generation” while again throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris in her campaign to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination.
“I decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation. You know, there is a time and a place for long years of experience in public life. There’s also a time and place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now”, Biden said.
The speech lasted roughly 11 minutes, with the president sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office while touting his years in political office and decision to bow out. Members of the president’s family were in attendance for the speech, including first lady Jill Biden, daughter Ashley Biden, son Hunter Biden and others.
The president said he looks forward to the work before him in his final six months in office, including pushing for Supreme Court reforms.
“I’m gonna call for Supreme Court reform, because this is critical to our democracy”, he said. Media reports recently surfaced that Biden is considering supporting legislation that would attempt to impose term limits on Supreme Court justices and a new enforceable ethics code.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., mocked President Biden’s speech Wednesday where he addressed the nation following dropping out of the presidential race.
“President Biden: My record merits a second term, so I’m not seeking a second term and instead installing a candidate who wasn’t elected because ‘nothing can come in the way of saving democracy'”, the Heritage Foundation posted on X.
Biden spoke for about 11 minutes on Wednesday evening, when he elaborated on exiting the 2024 election.
“I decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation. You know, there is a time and a place for long years of experience in public life. There’s also a time and place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now”, Biden said.
First lady Jill Biden called on Americans to put their trust in Vice President Harris following President Biden’s Wednesday address from the Oval Office on his decision to drop out of the 2024 race.
“To those who never wavered, to those who refused to doubt, to those who always believed, my heart is full of gratitude”, she wrote in a post on X.
“Thank you for the trust you put in Joe—now it’s time to put that trust in Kamala.”
Biden explained in his address that his decision to drop out was “the best way to unite our nation.”
“I revere this office but I love this country more. It’s been the honor of my life to serve as president”, he said.
President Biden said during his Oval Office address on Wednesday that he intended to finish his term as president.
“Over the next six months I’ll be focused on doing my job as president”, Biden said, mentioning the economy, civil rights, political violence, gun violence and climate change.
“I will keep fighting for my cancer moonshot so we can end cancer as we know it because we can do it.”
He also said he would continue working for “Supreme Court reform”, before touting that the U.S. “is not at war anywhere in the world.”
Evan Vucci/AP Photo/Bloomberg via
President Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office on Thursday after dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
“I revere this office but I love this country more. It’s been the honor of my life to serve as president”, Biden said, before stating America was “going to have to choose between moving forward or backward.”
He called on Americans to see those they disagree with as “fellow Americans”, and declared, “We are a great nation because we are a good people.”
“I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term”, Biden said, before stating him dropping out was “the best way to unite our nation.”
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has scrambled fighter jets to intercept two pairs of Russian and Chinese bombers ahead of President Biden’s highly anticipated Oval Office address.
Less than an hour before Biden is expected to hit the airwaves, Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson posted on X about the deployment.
“Ahead of Biden’s Oval Office address, NORAD says it scrambled fighter jets to intercept two Russian Tu-95 ‘Bear’ bombers and two Chinese H-6 bombers off the coast of Alaska.”
NORAD said in its own post that it “detected, tracked, and intercepted two Russian TU-95 and two PRC H-6 military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on July 24, 2024.”
“NORAD fighter jets from the United States and Canada conducted the intercept.”
The White House has released excerpts from President Biden’s highly anticipated Oval Office address, which he is expected to deliver tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET.
The excerpts were revealed in an X post by Andrew Bates, the White House senior deputy press secretary.
“The defense of democracy is more important than any title. I draw strength, and find joy, in working FOR the American people. But this sacred task of perfecting our Union is not about me. It’s about you. Your families. Your futures”, Biden is expected to say, according to Bates.
Biden is also expected to use the speech to “pass the torch to a new generation”, which he will claim is the “best way to unite our nation.”
“Over the next six months I will be focused on doing my job as President. 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 will say.
“The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule. The people do. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America – lies in your hands.”
Scott Olson/
Vice President Harris is vetting around a dozen potential options to be her running mate, according to a report by CBS News that cited a source familiar with the process.
Those names, some of which Fox News Digital has also reported are being considered, include Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are also reportedly being considered.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., claimed he was not part of a “coordinated effort” to pressure President Biden to drop out of the race despite being one of the first to publicly ask him to withdraw.
“I can’t speak to the private efforts that either Speaker Pelosi or Chuck Schumer or Hakeem Jeffries were undertaking, because I really wasn’t part of those internal discussions, so I don’t know what they were conveying to the president except that they were conveying the feedback they got from members of the House and Senate”, Schiff told the co-hosts of ABC’s “The View” on Wednesday.
He continued, “I can only speak for myself. I wasn’t part of a coordinated effort.”
Schiff was one of the first prominent Democrats to publicly call on Biden to drop out of the race in the weeks following the president’s disastrous debate performance.
“I really resisted wanting to say what I ultimately felt I needed to, but having worked on the January 6th committee, having worked on impeachment of the former president, having the grave concerns that I have that if we go back to the disastrous presidency of Donald Trump, it could be the end of our democracy as we know it”, the California congressman and U.S. Senate candidate told the daytime hosts.
The White House communication team’s credibility surrounding knowledge of President Biden’s political future is in the national spotlight after telling the public for weeks that Biden would not drop out of the 2024 race while simultaneously battling questions from the press about mounting concerns over his health.
“All you can do is shake your head. No one at the White House has any credibility when it comes to Joe Biden’s health. From Vice President Harris to the White House physician to everyone in the press office, they covered up the president’s frailties. They hid the truth. It’s a scandal”, former George W. Bush White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told Fox News Digital.
Voters and social media commenters across the nation have sounded off in recent days that the communications team was “out of the loop” as concerns mounted surrounding Biden’s health and subsequent claims that the president would exit the 2024 presidential race.
When Biden did announce his departure from the race, only a handful of White House and campaign officials – such as Vice President Kamala Harris, chief of staff Jeff Zients and campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon – were made aware ahead of the letter, while some senior officials learned of the decision in a Zoom call, and most others through Biden’s public announcement on X, media outlets reported.
The White House communications shop, which is led by press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, had for weeks shut down claims Biden would drop out, while describing Biden’s health as above board and no reason for concern.
“Absolutely not”, Jean-Pierre declared in a press briefing on July 3 when asked if Biden had any plans to exit the 2024 race.
Jean-Pierre’s messaging had been backed up by White House spokesman Andrew Bates, who frequently issued statements to the media that Biden was in the race to win while brushing off questions about the president’s health.
“The president told both leaders he is the nominee of the party, he plans to win and looks forward to working with both of them to pass his 100-days agenda to help working families”, Bates said last week in a comment to the New York Times.
“That is not happening, period”, Bates said Friday when asked if members of the Biden family were discussing the president’s exit plan. “The individuals making those claims are not speaking for his family or his team – and they will be proven wrong. Keep the faith.”
Signage is displayed during a walkthrough of the Democratic National Convention on May 22, 2024, at the United Center. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via )
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) recently decided that August 1 will be the first day delegates begin voting for their favored presidential candidates.
Vice President Kamala Harris is the party’s presumptive nominee after accruing a massive amount of support from delegates after President Biden dropped out of the race. The vote will take place virtually, according to a DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee hearing on Wednesday.
The virtual voting process will be quicker than learning who becomes the nominee at the Democratic National Convention, which takes place later in August.
DNC outside counsel Patrick Moore noted that the deadline to certify a presidential and vice presidential candidate is August 7.
“The goal of these rules is to make the process work such that, a president and vice presidential nominee will be certified on or before August 7”, Moore said during a meeting.
“So if for some reason or another, the process did not work on that timeline, which again, we firmly intend and expect that it will, the rules provide the chair of the DNC and the chair of the convention working together may extend the process”, he added.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 24, 2024. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via )
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had a tense exchange with Fox News’ Senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy during Wednesday’s press briefing.
Doocy grilled Jean-Pierre about Biden’s cognitive decline after the president dropped out of the 2024 race on Sunday.
“It would seem that people in this White House knew that President Biden was slipping and it was hidden from the American people”, he said. “So who ordered White House officials to cover up a declining president?”
“I know that that is a narrative that you love”, Jean-Pierre began before Doocy interrupted her.
“Wait. First of all, there’s been no cover up”, the official added. “I want to be very clear about that. I know that’s the narrative that you all want.”
Doocy interrupted her again and the two had a short back-and-forth before she repeated that there was not a cover-up, and encouraged Doocy to listen to Biden’s “incredibly powerful and important” address from the Oval Office on Wednesday night.
At the beginning of the exchange, Doocy asked the press secretary how she was doing in reference to the recent news cycle.
“How are you doing with all of this?” Doocy asked the press secretary, .
“You care about how I feel?” Jean-Pierre laughed.
“Are you going to stick around for a potential President Harris administration?” Doocy added.
“Oh, my goodness. So let me just get through the day. Can I just get through today?” the admin official responded.
At the end of their exchange, Doocy asked Jean-Pierre “if there [were] any names that came forward that surprised you of Democratic officials in the last week who stabbed President Biden in the back?”
To which Jean-Pierre curtly responded with, “I don’t have anything else to say.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 24, 2024. (Jim Watson/ )
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said that calls for Biden to resign are “ridiculous” and that he is currently capable of serving as president.
Asked about calls for Biden to resign from office, the press secretary said that “any suggestion of that note is ridiculous.””I just laid out what the president has been able to do in almost four years, and it’s been successful. He’s been able to do more again than any president has been able to do in two terms”, she said during the press briefing Wednesday. “He’s been able to do that more in one term, and he wants to finish the job that he started and delivering more historic results for the American people.
