Biden to Address the Nation For First Time Since Dropping Out — Here’s When

Joe Biden plans to address the nation for the first time since dropping out of the 2024 election race.

He says he will give his first public speech since deciding not to seek a second term tomorrow evening — Wednesday, July 23 at 8 PM EST.

The POTUS account on X announced:

Tomorrow evening at 8 PM ET, I will address the nation from the Oval Office on what lies ahead, and how I will finish the job for the American people.

— President Biden (@POTUS) July 23, 2024

After not being seen for nearly a week, Biden was spotted today leaving Air Force One.

BREAKING: Joe Biden has just boarded Air Force One in Delaware and will return to Washington DC.

The president is due to address the nation tomorrow from the Oval Office.

Live updates: https://t.co/rvhq70fbCX

📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/eptmcmb8Aj

— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 23, 2024

From AP:

President Joe Biden will address the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening on his decision to drop his 2024 Democratic reelection bid.

ADVERTISEMENT

Biden posted on X that he would speak “on what lies ahead” and how he will “finish the job for the American people.” He will speak at 8 p.m. ET.

He declined to preview his message after he returned to Washington, telling reporters to “watch and listen.”

“Why don’t you wait and hear what I say?” he said.

The president departed Delaware shortly before 2 p.m. on Tuesday, after nearly a week of isolating at his Rehoboth Beach home after his second bout with COVID-19. Biden is now testing negative for the virus and his symptoms have resolved, according to a letter from his doctor, Kevin O’Connor, released Tuesday.

The New York Times added:

Now a lame duck, the president plans to address the nation on Wednesday night to discuss “what lies ahead.” But it could be a frustrating period.

Even though he is no longer a candidate for re-election, President Biden insists that he is “not going anywhere,” and it is true that his lease on the White House has another six months, or roughly an eighth of his entire term.

But when his motorcade pulled into the White House gates on Tuesday for the first time since he withdrew from the race, Mr. Biden returned to a vastly different presidency. He is now that creature most dreaded in the Oval Office: a lame duck, a commander in chief on the way out who is being challenged to assert his relevance even as the world moves on.

Traditionally, it has been the most frustrating period of a president’s time in office. The spotlight turns toward potential successors; lawmakers would rather rush home to campaign than pass major legislation; and world leaders strategize over how to deal with the next administration while looking for ways to make introductions.