Key takeaways
That’s all from us tonight.
Joe Biden spoke for just over 20 minutes tonight, offering a rare primetime address that forecasted the midterm elections as a battle for the nation’s soul. In what very much came across as a campaign speech, the president stuck a dark, stern tone – building on a new, more direct approach he’s recently taken in attacking Donald Trump and his allies.
Here are some key takeaways:
Speaking in front of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall – where the Declaration of Independence and the US constitution were signed – back lit in red, white and blue, and played on and off by the Marine band playing anthems from the 1800s – the night really played up patriotism. “America is an idea,” he said at one point, flanked by Marines at parade rest. “The most powerful idea in the history of the world.” Throughout his address, Biden evoked the founding ideals of the country, and aligned himself with them – casting Trump and extremist Republicans as an existential threat to the nation. “I know your hearts. And I know our history,” he said, addressing the “American people”. “This is a nation that honors our constitution,” he said.
The president issued stern warnings that the integrity of American elections was vulnerable. Condemning Trump and other Republicans who have denied the legitimacy of the 2020 elections – and have threatened to do so in the midterms, Biden asked Americans to join him in resisting election misinformation and the rollback of voting rights. “We can’t let the integrity of our elections be undermined,” he said. “We can’t allow violence to be normalized in this country,” he added, referencing the January 6 insurrection.
Biden – who usually makes couched references to “the former guy” and his “predecessor” – explicitly named and called out Donald Trump tonight. Trump and the “Maga (Make America great again)” Republicans “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundation of our republic”, Biden said. Hedging that “not every Republican” is an extremist, he added: “There’s no question that the Republican party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump.” The president even made reference to the commotion surrounding the Justice Department’s discovery that Trump was holding on to classified documents – something he’s largely avoided discussing. Biden’s directness tonight was a culmination of a new, aggressive approach he’s taken recently in aiming to marginalize Trump’s agenda.
Biden also touted his and Democrats’ policy goals, urging Americans to “vote, vote, vote”. The speech tonight was presented as an official address – but it also very much came off as a campaign appeal. During a jarringly optimistic segment in an otherwise dark speech, Biden touted reforming healthcare, combatting climate change and addressing the Covid-19 pandemic. “I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future,” he said. “We’re going to end cancer as we know it. We’re going to create millions of new jobs in the clean energy economy. We’re going to think big, we’re going to make the 21st century another American century.”
Biden may have missed an opportunity to highlight outrage over the supreme court’s decision to revoke the constitutional right to abortion. The issue energized Democrats ahead of the midterm, and abortion rights advocates have expressed frustration at Biden and other Democrats for not speaking more directly and forcefully about it. Biden did mention that “Maga Republicans” want to take the country “backwards to an America where there is no right to choose. No right to privacy. No right to contraception.” But he lost a chance to play the issue up as an urgent example of rights at stake.
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The scenes from tonight’s speech
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One quick note just for my UK readers …
You may have been confused as to why God Save the Queen was playing as Biden walked off the stage. Some of my British colleagues certainly were.
What you actually heard was the American patriotic song My Country, Tis of Thee. It was written by Samuel Francis Smith in 1831 – and is sung to the same melody as God Save the Queen.
As an American editor said, “Guess we’re united in more ways than one!’
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One thing that was conspicuously missing from the speech tonight: the issue of abortion.
In recent weeks, public backlash against the supreme court’s decision to revoke the constitutional right to abortion has energized Democrats ahead of the midterm. Biden did mention that “Maga Republicans” want to take the country “backwards to an America where there is no right to choose. No right to privacy. No right to contraception.” He also mentioned that the right to marriage equality was under threat.
(In concurring opinion in the case that resulted in the right to abortion being overturned, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the rights to same-sex marriage and the right for couples to use contraception should be reconsidered.)
But abortion rights advocates have expressed frustration at Biden and other Democrats for not speaking about abortion more directly and forcefully, given that the majority of Americans support the right – and the issue has proved to be energizing in the primaries so far.
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This sort of prime time address from the president is rare. But it’s unclear what its impact will be.
Several major networks did not cary the broadcast. NBC showed Law and Order, CBS aired Young Sheldon, and ABC had Press Your Luck on.
And then there was Fox News, which seemed to jump the gun a bit:
it ... hasn't happened yet? pic.twitter.com/zCPIQ1X30w
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 2, 2022
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Biden’s speech has concluded.
Stay tuned for more analysis and reflections from me and the Guardian politics team.
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Thee second half of the speech struck an entirely different tone, evoking Democrats’ successes and goals in reforming healthcare, combatting climate change and addressing the Covid-19 pandemic:
I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future… We’re going to end cancer as we know it. We’re going to create millions of new jobs in the clean energy economy. We’re going to think big we’re going to make 21st century another American Century.
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Protesters outside Independence Hall were shouting “Let’s go, Brandon,” which Biden was able to brush off.
Biden addressed them, saying: “They’re entitled to be outrageous. This is a democracy.”
And followed with a quip that such protestors have never suffered from “good manners”.
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And there it is: “I ran for president because I believe we’re in a battle for the soul of this nation. I still believe that to be true,” Biden said, in a speech that is seeming very much like a campaign speech.
“America is defined by the sacred proposition that all are created equal in the image of God, that all are entitled to be treated with decency, dignity and respect that all deserve justice in a shot at lives are a consequence,” he said. “Democracy makes all these things possible.”
“No matter what the white supremacists and extremists say,” Biden continued, “I made a bet on you, the American people, and that bet is paying off.”
The president also evoked the “darkness” of the Charlottesville white nationalist rally that he has said upset him so much, it compelled him to run for president.
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Raising his voice, Biden warns that “we can’t let the integrity of our elections be undermined” – adding that doing so leads down a “path to chaos”.
“Democracy endures only if we the people respect the guardrails of the Republic,” he says.
The tone has so far been stern, and dark. “Throughout our history, Americans often made the greatest progress coming out of some of our darkest moments,” Biden said – transitioning.
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Invoking his “soul of the nation” theme from his presidential campaign, Biden says that Maga forces “are determined to take this country backwards. Backwards to an America where there is no right to choose. No right to privacy. No right to contraception, no right to marry.”
These forces “promote authoritarian leaders and they fan the flames of political violence” are a threat “to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country”, he continues.
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“As I stand here tonight, equality and democracy are under assault,” Biden dives in. “We do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise. So tonight, I’ve come to this place where it all began to speak as plainly as I can to the nation, about the threats we face, about the power we have in our own hands to meet these threats, and about the incredible future that lies in front of us.”
Hedging that “not every Republican” is an extremist, he singles out “Donald Trump and Maga Republicans”.
The president has historically avoided calling out Trump by name – often couching references to his “predecessor”. But in recent appearances, he has struck a more aggressive tone, and willingness to more directly attack Trump and Republicans.
Trump and his supporters represents an “extremism that threatens the foundations of our Republic”, he said.
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Biden begins primetime address
Biden has begun his address from outside Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed.
Walking out to the tune of Hail to the Chief, Biden began: “I speak to you tonight from sacred ground in America.”
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And just in: the January 6 committee is requesting testimony from Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally and former House speaker.
In a letter sent today, the committee said it is interested in emails between Gingrich and former Trump senior advisers, including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, that the committee said provided input on advertisements repeating election lies.
“These advertising efforts were not designed to encourage voting for a particular candidate. Instead, these efforts attempted to cast doubt on the outcome of the election after voting had already taken place,” committee chairman Bennie Thompson,wrote.
“They encouraged members of the public to contact their state officials and pressure them to challenge and overturn the results of the election. To that end, these advertisements were intentionally aired in the days leading up to December 14, 2020, the day electors from each state met to cast their votes for president and vice-president.”
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Biden’s speech on threats to democracy comes as investigations into Donald Trump and the January 6 insurrection intensify.
Two former Trump White House lawyers – Pat Cipollone and Patrick Philbin, will be testifying this week before a grand just investigating the insurrection. The House January 6 select committee is continuing its digging, interviewing senior Trump officials. Once its investigation concludes, the decision over whether to file criminal charges against Trump will be made by the US Department of Justice.
Meanwhile the South Carolina Republican senator Lindsey Graham will also have to testify before the special grand jury in Georgia in a criminal case related to allegations that Trump illegally attempted to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results.
Moreover, my colleague Sam Levine reported earlier today:
Trump said he would pardon and apologize to those who participated in the deadly attack on the US Capitol on January 6 if he were elected to the White House again.
“I mean full pardons with an apology to many,” he told Wendy Bell, a conservative radio host on Thursday. “I will be looking very, very strongly about pardons, full pardons.”
Five people died in connection with the attack and more than 140 law enforcement officers were injured. More than 875 people have been charged with crimes related to January 6, according to an NPR tracker. 370 people have pleaded guilty to crimes so far.
Trump also said he was offering financial support to some of those involved in the attack. “I am financially supporting people that are incredible and they were in my office actually two days ago, so they’re very much in my mind,” Trump said. “It’s a disgrace what they’ve done to them. What they’ve done to these people is disgraceful.”
It was not immediately clear what the extent of Trump’s financial assistance was.
The former president has indicated he plans to run again in 2024.
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Biden will be delivering his speech from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – where American democracy was born.
Thursday’s primetime speech is the second of three visits by the president in less than a week to battleground Pennsylvania, home to several consequential races this election season.
In the US Senate race, Mehmet Oz, the Trump-backed heart surgeon turned celebrity doctor, is squaring off against the state’s lieutenant governor, Democrat John Fetterman, in a contest that could determine which party controls the chamber, evenly divided at present.
Meanwhile, Democrats have warned about the risks of Doug Mastriano, the far-right Republican nominee for governor, a leading figure in Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Pennsylvania who helped shuttle people on 6 January to Trump’s Washington DC rally that preceded the attack on the US capitol.
In Pennsylvania, the governor appoints the secretary of state, giving the next governor enormous sway over how the 2024 presidential election is conducted in the state. Mastriano faces Democrat Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s attorney general.
In a speech not far from Biden’s birthplace of Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, the US president lashed out at “Maga Republicans in Congress” over their attacks on the FBI after agents seized boxes of classified documents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last month. The remarks were designed to counter Republican attacks on Democrats as “soft on crime”, with Biden casting his opponents’ rhetoric as a threat to law enforcement and the rule of law.
“The idea you turn on a television and see senior senators and congressmen saying, ‘If such and such happens there’ll be blood on the street’?” he said in Wilkes-Barre. “Where the hell are we?”
Biden will deliver a rare primetime address on threats to American democracy
Good evening, and welcome to the Guardian’s US politics liveblog, primetime edition.
We’ll be bringing you live updates and analysis tonight, as Joe Biden addresses the country. The president is expected to speak about threats to American democracy, and “the power we have in our own hands to meet those threats”, according to excerpts of his speech that the White House has shared with the media.
In recent weeks, Biden has unleashed an uncharacteristically energetic, aggressive line of attack against Republicans allied with Donald Trump, and the party’s willingness to erode democratic rights and personal freedoms.
As my colleague Lauren Gambino reports, Biden is expected to evoke a battle for the “soul of the nation”, reviving a theme from his presidential campaign, and build on public backlash against the supreme court’s decision to end the constitutional right to abortion.
Here’s our main report on the night ahead:
