President Joe Biden will have the opportunity to make a case for his legacy — sweeping domestic legislation, renewal of alliances abroad, defense of democracy — on Wednesday night when he delivers an Oval Office address about his decision to bow out of the race and “what lies ahead.”
It will be the first time Joe Biden has spoken publicly since his decision to drop his 2024 Democratic reelection bid.
The speech will also be the first time Biden will appear publicly after testing positive for COVID on July 17. Following a negative test Tuesday, Biden returned to the White House after a days-long isolation at his beach home in Rehoboth, Delaware.
The address is set to take place at 7 p.m. CT Wednesday. It will be streamed in the video player above once it begins. It will also air live on NBC 5 and on the NBC Chicago streaming channel.
In a post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Biden said he’d outline how he plans to “finish the job for the American people.”
Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris shortly after he announced Sunday that he would end his candidacy, effectively giving her a head start over would-be challengers and helping to jumpstart a candidacy focused largely on continuing his own agenda.
“If she wins, then it will be confirmation that he did the right thing to fight against the threat that is Trump, and he will be seen as a legend on behalf of democracy,” said presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky, executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. “If she loses, I think there will be questions about, did he step down too late? Would the Democratic Party have been more effective if he had said he was not going to run?”
Similar what-ifs play out at the end of every presidency. But Biden’s defiance in the face of questions about his fitness for office and then his late submission to his party’s crisis of confidence heighten the stakes.
The last vice president to run for the top job was Democrat Al Gore, who sought to distance himself from President Bill Clinton during the 2000 campaign after the president’s affair with a White House intern and subsequent impeachment.
Harris, in contrast, has spent the better part of the last three years praising Biden’s doings — meaning any attempt to now distance herself would be difficult to explain. And she has to rely on the Biden political operation she inherited to win the election with just over 100 days to go before polls close.
Speaking to campaign staff on Monday, Harris said Biden’s legacy of accomplishment “just over the last three and a half years is unmatched in modern history.”
Trump and his allies, for their part, were eager to tie Harris to Biden’s record even before the president left the race — and not in a good way.
One campaign email to supporters declared “KAMALA HARRIS IS BIDEN 2.0 – Kamala Harris owns Joe Biden’s terrible record because it is her record as well,” calling out high inflation and border policies, among other things.
Biden this week promised the staffers of his former campaign that he was still “going to be on the road” as he handed off the reins of the organization to Harris, adding, “I’m not going anywhere.”
His advisers say he intends to hold campaign events and fundraisers benefiting Harris, albeit at a far slower pace than had he remained on the ballot himself.
Harris advisers will ultimately have to decide how to deploy the president, whose popularity sagged as voters on both sides of the aisle questioned his fitness for office.
When will the Democratic presidential nominee be determined?
According to a draft memo obtained this week by NBC News, the Democratic National Committee’s Rules Committee will meet Wednesday to sketch out the parameters for a virtual roll call that is expected to install the party’s presidential nominee by early August, two weeks prior to the start of the convention in Chicago.
The committee hearing will stream on the DNC’s YouTube channel, according to officials.
“This will all be done swiftly and transparently so our delegates, Party members, and the public understand the process,” said DNCC Chair Minyon Moore. “By executing this process swiftly and effectively, we will bring our party together as we head to the Convention in Chicago united, and position the Democratic ticket to win in November.”
It is expected that the party will officially designate its nominee by Aug. 7, with the convention starting on Aug. 19 at Chicago’s United Center, according to the memo.
According to the DNC, the vote would only be for the presidential nomination, with that nominee then choosing a running mate. It is expected at this time that the vice presidential nominee will also be named prior to Aug. 7 to avoid any ballot access issues in the lead-up to the November election.
The installation comes amid the rapidly-evolving Democratic ticket in the 2024 election. President Joe Biden announced Sunday he would no longer seek the nomination, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris, making her first campaign appearance on Tuesday in Wisconsin, said that she has enough delegate support to lock up the nomination, with that spot expected to be made official in early August.
If the Rules Committee puts the parameters in place, a virtual roll call will be held for delegates to cast their ballots for the presidential nomination, which is expected to go to Harris.
With just over 100 days to go until the November election, Democratic Party officials say they are committed to a “swift” process to install a nominee after Biden’s exit, and they are aiming to go toe-to-toe with former President Donald Trump after he was selected as the Republican Party’s nominee last week.
“The work ahead may be unprecedented, but we are prepared to undertake a transparent, swift, and orderly process to move forward as a united Democratic Party with a nominee who represents our values, upholds our truths, and has the wisdom to carry us forward in this fight. Because, folks, let me be clear: we remain laser focused on winning in November,” said DNC Chair Jaime Harrison.