The NPR Politics Podcast - With An Eye On His Legacy, Biden Addresses The Nation

Episode Date: July 25, 2024

The president was emphatic about the threat that Donald Trump poses to American democracy. He said that after a lifetime of service, it was time to pass the torch.This episode: voting correspondent Ashley Lopez, senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, and senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson.The podcast is produced by Casey Morell and Kelli Wessinger. Our intern is Bria Suggs. Our editor is Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for this podcast and the following message come from Autograph Collection Hotels, with over 300 independent hotels around the world, each exactly like nothing else. Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotel brands. Find the unforgettable at AutographCollection.com. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover voting. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. And I'm Mara Eliason, senior national political correspondent.

I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America's future, all merit at 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. That was President Biden from the Oval Office this evening, formalizing his announcement that he will not run for re-election. It is now 8.44 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, July 24th. And Tam Mara, for folks who weren't able to catch the address, what was the message of the president's speech tonight?

I think that this was a speech that tried to accomplish a couple of things. It was certainly about explaining why he stepped aside. And it was, in essence, trying to write the first version of what he thinks his legacy should be and how he feels that this choice should be remembered. And also, he was really setting up what heute Desk in the Oval Office, which is a place where presidents go for very serious remarks. And this was not an overtly political speech, except that it was all about politics. But in essence, he was making a case that he did what was best for democracy by stepping aside and that nothing is more important. He didn't say Trump's name, but nothing is more important than Trump not winning. and he said that the best way to save democracy, which is the reason he ran in the first place, was to step aside and pass the torch. I think this was a valedictory speech and a campaign speech wrapped together. Yeah. I mean, I know he's still, that the president is still recovering from his COVID infection, but I got to say, you know, he still sounds pretty subdued, stumbling a little

bit. I wonder, I'll start with you, Mara, like what you make of his delivery. I mean, this is a conversation we've been having for weeks now. First, he was defiant. He was not going to go anywhere. Then he was in denial. All the polls are wrong. And he knew that his campaign was collapsing, that he had no path to victory, and the trickle of Democrats asking him to step aside was going to turn into a tidal wave, and he didn't want to aside and decided that a better candidate, a younger candidate, would have a better chance to beat Trump. But if he had given this speech 10 days ago when he was still scrapping and scraping and doing everything he could to stay in the race, to convince his party that he had what it takes, that he had the fight. If he delivered this speech then, every one of those stumbles would have been picked apart and people would have said, wow, he's low energy. He doesn't have it. Very different stakes tonight. Yeah, exactly. And now he's a beloved figure in the Democratic Party. He's there, George Washington, who stepped aside when he didn't have to. And, you know, now the question is, how will history treat his legacy? He tried to write the first draft of it, as Tam said, tonight. He said he passed the biggest climate change law ever, biggest gun safety law. He talked about other things he'd done, kept the Western alliance together, expanded NATO. So we'll see. But he mentioned his vice president briefly. He said she was experienced, tough and capable. Well, I want to go back to something President Biden brought up,

his conviction that the threat that Donald Trump poses to democracy is very, very real. I've given my heart and my soul to our nation, like so many others. I've been blessed a million times in return with the love and support of the American people. I hope you have some idea how grateful I am to all of you. The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule. The people do. I was looking at the screen to see if he was going to tear up because the way he was talking about his feeling

for the country, about how being president was the greatest honor of his life, it felt very emotional and heartfelt. And then that quick turn to the stage whisper and kings and dictators do not rule, the people do. In essence, this is the same message he said earlier, which is that he is he is arguing that what he did, this very difficult thing he did by stepping aside when he thought he still had fight in him, that he was putting democracy and American tradition and everything that's great about America ahead of his own personal ambition and ego. There are a lot of people who are very frustrated with him that he didn't make this decision, this very difficult decision, two years ago. But he didn't. And now the overwhelming outpouring is in line with what he is saying here, which is, look at what he did for our nation. And they are trying, Democrats are trying to draw this contrast, as the president did in the speech. President Biden put the country over himself. What does Donald Trump do? He puts himself over the country.

All right. Well, we need to take a quick break. But first, if you're hearing this podcast and you aren't following us on Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen, please hit that follow button to stay up to date with our show. Let's take a break. Back in a moment. And we're back. And, you know, we've talked a little bit about Biden's big legacy while in office these past four years. But, you know, as you mentioned, Mara, you know, he's had a very long career. I mean, this might be part of like the defiance and the denial, right? Like stages of grief, grieving a long career. And this stretches back to his time in Congress, where he probably spent most of his life. Can you talk to us about like what came before he even was vice president, before he even entered the White House?

Well, he's had an incredibly long career, a dramatic career with tremendous setbacks. You know, his wife and young daughter were killed in a car crash. Later on, his son died of brain cancer. He ran unsuccessfully for president. As he said in this speech, even before all of that, he overcame a stutter. I mean, this is a guy that has had an improbable career. You know, he was elected to the Senate at age 29. He was sworn in right after the funeral of his wife and daughter. You can see those pictures of him looking absolutely shell-shocked with his one hand on the Bible, the other hand raised. So he's had a very, very long career.

He was the vice president with Barack Obama. That was also an unlikely pick. He had run against Obama in the primary. And then he became president. And he passed a lot of bipartisan legislation, more than Barack Obama did. And he's been successful by a lot of traditional criteria for presidents. And picking the first black woman vice president. Appointing the first black woman to the Supreme Court. You know, I think he has, you know, he has a of the presidential race in 1987, when he dropped out

of the presidential race in 2008, and then again in 2015, when he decided not to run and he announced he was not going to run because his son Beau had died and because the Democratic establishment had really consolidated behind Hillary Clinton while he was trying to figure out what to do and was just enmeshed in the grief. And every time he said, but I could run again, I'm going to run again, or this isn't the last you're hearing of me. I'm not done. I'm not going to be quiet. But now at 81 years old, this is it. I predict we will hear several more goodbye speeches from President Biden, but there isn't another race for him. You know, this is the end of a 50 year political career. And it ended in this really unfortunate way.

And in a way that I guess is very relatable, because often you don't know when it's time to to turn off the lights. Yeah. Well, he does have about six months left on the job, though. The gig isn't over. Right. Did he make clear, Tam, what he's going to be doing with the remainder of that time in office? He talked about a lot of things. And essentially, it essentially is what he's been doing for the last year and a half, ever since Republicans took control of the House and the hope of big bipartisan legislation kind of faded into the sunset. He has been doing a lot of executive action. He's been doing a lot of implementation. You know, all of these big bills that were passed on his watch that he signed, then it's up to the administration to actually put those things into effect to, you know,

do those grants for all of those climate projects, to create the climate core, to fight with drug companies about the price of insulin. All of these things are like sort of the boring, nitty gritty part of governing. And that is what he said he's going to be doing for the next six months. That and also trying to get a ceasefire in Gaza, trying to maintain the alliance with the NATO countries, essentially like just keep steering the ship and hoping that his vice president wins so that Republicans don't completely erase all of his accomplishments. Can I just say one thing about what I think he's going to do in the next six months? Yeah. I think that he's going to try to do things that will help Kamala Harris get elected.

He's going to shine a light on things that are popular. Obviously, foreign policy is the president's purview, and he's going to continue working on that, supporting Ukraine, trying to get a ceasefire in Gaza, etc. But I do think that any kind of public events, and of course, the spotlight will be off of him and on Trump and Harris as they run. But any public events that he does will be to highlight things he thinks will help her win. Yeah, I wondered when he mentioned, you know, Supreme Court reform. I mean, he's a lame duck at this point. It would have to be just so that he could talk about the Supreme Court, which is something that could be very helpful to Democrats, you know. Term limits, which is what he's come out for. Yes. And some kind of ethics code. Yeah.

That's something that's going to take decades to get done, if ever. But yes, he could do that. Well, another historic day in the books, guys. All right. Well, let's leave it there for today. I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover voting. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. And I'm Mara Liason, senior national political correspondent. And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.