U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks next to U.S. President Joe Biden at an event in Prince George’s County, Maryland, U.S., August 15, 2024.
Elizabeth Frantz Reuters
President Joe Biden’s role at next week’s Democratic National Convention may be dramatically altered by his decision to end his bid for a second term, but his message about the stakes of this election will be clear, according to some Biden officials.
The outgoing president will nominate Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him during his keynote address Monday, in part touting his accomplishments over the past four years.
But Biden will also make it clear that he still believes Republican nominee Donald Trump is a serious threat to American democracy and urge delegates in Chicago and voters watching across the country to defeat him again in November, aides said.
“After saving democracy in 2020, President Biden is determined to defeat the threat to democracy posed by Donald Trump,” said one official.
The first day of the convention in Chicago will include a series of tributes to Biden as he prepares to end his half-century career in public service. Just last week, of course, the entire convention was focused on helping to extend the service for another four years. But now it will give the president another chance to try and shape his legacy.
The president will spend the weekend at Camp David perfecting his speech with the help of senior advisers, including key speech writers Mike Donilon and Vinay Reddy. His comments will build on a message he delivered in the Oval Office shortly after dropping out of the race and make a strong case for Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The speech, officials said, will serve as a reminder of the importance of Biden immediately endorsing Harris after announcing he would end his candidacy, helping to quickly unify the party in the crisis behind the historic candidacy. Although Biden fought hard to stay in the race after a poor debate performance, he said the convention on the first night allowed him to pass the torch to him and Walz, Biden officials told NBC News.
“The president is pleased with the momentum behind the campaign and hopes to make the case,” the official said.
Biden aides, however, believe the convention will continue to highlight the Biden-Harris record after he leaves to contrast the Republican ticket.
“Four years ago, America was reeling from a once-in-a-century pandemic, isolated on the world stage, crime was on the rise, the middle class was being pushed aside,” the official said. “Today: We are a global growth engine, our Alliance is strong, our violent crime rate is at a 50-year low, border crossings are lower than when the previous administration left office, and we are making progress on the issues Americans care about the most.”
Members of the Biden family will join the president and first lady, who will speak before their husbands. Biden’s longtime friends and supporters will also travel by chartered plane from Delaware to attend the speech, and several aides have organized a celebration for him and other current and former staffers in Chicago Monday night.
Other elements of the convention intended to boost Biden’s candidacy will remain tributes, starting with the convention logo that borrows from the 2020 campaign design. All convention delegates will also receive a “Cup of Joe” brand of coffee, and signage around the United Center on Monday will ask for words from Biden’s Oval Office address, such as “History is in your hands,” as well as the family mantra: “Spread the faith.”
Biden will leave Chicago after his Monday address to spend the rest of the week in Southern California. There, he will gather with top advisers who have been working for the past month to come up with a plan for the rest of his term.
Biden officials said the president “will have an extensive domestic schedule — traveling across the country to remind Americans that they must choose between their vision and the Vice President’s vision to move the country forward, not backward.”
“And the President will fight to make every day count to build on that historic achievement,” the official added. “Expect aggressive implementation of historic rules, actions to reduce costs, and a packed foreign policy agenda.”