President Biden slurred his way through an Oval Office address occasioned by his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential campaign this past Sunday. He has been muscled aside by the Democratic establishment led by Barack Obama and tossed in the waste basket like a used tissue.
Something happened. What was it?
Biden’s remarks require interpretation. According to Biden, he has compiled a world-beating record. He has earned a second term, but his electoral prospects went south. He has therefore decided to step down — to “sav[e] our democracy™.” That’s what the man said:
In recent weeks, it has become clear to me that I need to unite my party in this critical endeavor [of defeating Trump]. I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future, all merited a second term. But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition.
So I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation. I know there was a time and a place for long years of experience in public life. There’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now.
Biden recalled that he saved the United States from a second Trump term that would have destroyed the United States:
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. That is still the case. America is an idea. An idea stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant.
Biden’s peroration summoned the ghost of Ben Franklin:
Now the choice is up to you, the American people. When you make that choice, remember the words of Benjamin Franklin hanging on my wall here in the Oval Office, alongside the busts of Dr. King and Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez.
When Ben Franklin was asked, as he emerged from the convention going on, whether the founders have given America a monarchy or a republic, Franklin’s response was: “A republic, if you can keep it.” A republic, if you can keep it. Whether we keep our republic is now in your hands. My fellow Americans, it’s been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years.
The possible election of Donald Trump portends the end of the republic. I’m sure he meant “our democracy™,” but that’s the way the Franklin quote reads.
The song remains the same. The United States must be saved from Donald Trump. Unfortunately, Biden is not the man to do it this time around. It was about as candid and straightforward as the typical Biden campaign speech.
So what happened? Biden is not saying.
The White House has not yet posted the text of Biden’s speech. The New York Times has posted it here. The 11-minute video is below.
