President Joe Biden delivers a farewell address to the nation Wednesday from the Oval Office, five days before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.
The president's remarks at 8 p.m. Eastern are set to be his last significant opportunity to speak to Americans and the world before he leaves office at noon Jan. 20. They will follow a speech Monday at the State Department, where he will deliver an address focused on his foreign policy legacy.
But Biden isn't leaving the White House in the way that he hoped. He originally tried to run for reelection, brushing aside voters' concerns that he would be 86 years old at the end of a second term. After stumbling in a debate with Republican Donald Trump, Biden dropped out of the race under pressure from his own party.
He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in November. Now Biden is preparing to cede power to someone he's described as an existential threat to the country's democratic institutions.
He implicitly acknowledged that his promises remained unfulfilled in an open letter released Wednesday morning.
“I ran for president because I believed that the soul of America was at stake,” Biden wrote. “The very nature of who we are was at stake. And, that’s still the case.”
The rest of the letter emphasized his accomplishments, including guiding the country out of the coronavirus pandemic, supporting domestic manufacturing and limiting the cost of prescription drugs.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters earlier Friday that Biden would reflect on his “50-plus years as a public official."
“He has some thoughts on the future, not just of the country, but how this country moves forward as a leader, when you think about global events, important global issues, and certainly he will lay that out," she said.
The address will start at 5:00 p.m. and is scheduled to last until 5:30.
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