President Joe Biden, 81, told Americans on Wednesday that he was stepping down from a second term in office “to defend democracy” and to pass the baton to “younger voices,” in a speech to the nation from the Oval Office.
“The defense of democracy is more important than any position,” he solemnly stated after resigning from the electoral race on Sunday in a letter published on the social network X.
He thus gave in to weeks of pressure from his own Democratic Party, which doubted his abilities following his disastrous performance in a debate against his rival, Republican Donald Trump.
In order to “unite” the party, the leader said he was making way for the new generations.
“There is a time and a place for many years of experience in public life. There is also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, young voices,” he said.
That voice is called Kamala Harris, a “strong” and “competent” woman, according to him, who will defend the party’s colors and the essence of the country.
“America is an idea, an idea stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant,” said the president, who promised to dedicate his remaining six months in office to boosting the economy and defending individual liberties and civil rights.
The new scenario for the Democratic camp has forced Trump to change his strategy. “Biden doesn’t even know he’s alive,” he said of his successor. The Republican candidate’s new target is Harris, the person in charge of managing the immigration crisis in the government.
He gave her a new nickname, “Kamala the Liar,” and claimed that her work on the border has led to American towns being “devastated.” “She is not qualified to lead,” he said.
She went much further on abortion rights, which Harris has championed as one of the central themes of her campaign.
“She wants abortions in the eighth and ninth month of pregnancy. She sees that as OK, right up to birth and even after birth, the execution of a baby,” said the 78-year-old tycoon about the vice president, whom he considers a “radical left-wing lunatic.”
Harris has less than four months to convince Americans to vote for her and is using her experience as a former prosecutor to attack Trump, who was convicted in a criminal case in May.
On Wednesday, at a rally in Indianapolis, in the center of the country, he outlined his “vision of a future” based on social, health and economic justice, “not for some, but for all.”
“I believe we are faced with a choice between two different visions for our nation, one focused on the future and the other focused on the past. And with your support, I am fighting for the future of our nation,” the former senator said.
Backed by a large number of Democratic personalities and congressmen, she is almost assured of the nomination in August at her party’s convention, and will officially become the candidate for the presidential elections on November 5.
Biden insists he still has much to offer, including trying to reach a peace deal in the Middle East, a dream many of his predecessors have pursued in vain.
The president, increasingly critical of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday.
But in a sign of how quickly things are changing, Netanyahu will also hold a separate meeting with Harris.
He will meet with Trump in Florida on Friday.
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2024-07-26 16:39:24