Washington DC - US President warned Wednesday that the "soul of America" is still at stake, as he prepared to deliver his farewell address to the nation before the return to power of .
US President Joe Biden warned Wednesday that the "soul of America" is still at stake as he prepared to deliver his farewell address to the nation. © Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
The 82-year-old Democrat will make a primetime speech from the Oval Office of the White House in which he is expected to of his single four-year term.
In previewing his remarks – due to be made at 8:00 PM US Eastern time – Biden took an implicit swipe at Republican Trump.
"I ran for president because I believed that the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was at stake. And, that's still the case," Biden said in the letter.
"History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands. We just have to keep the faith and remember who we are," he said.
Biden said the US was stronger than four years ago when it "stood in a winter of peril" after Trump's chaotic first term, the Covid pandemic, and what he called "the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War."
Biden was sworn in just days after the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters trying to overturn his election loss.
He did not mention Trump by name – but his words clearly echoed previous speeches in which he said that he decided to run in the 2020 election because America's "soul" was at risk from Trump and his supporters and that Trump was a threat to democracy.
The US president said he had asked the White House to also release a long list of what he termed his administration's achievements, covering issues ranging from the economy to and .
He said the US had the "strongest economy in the world" and was bringing down inflation – even if public anger over the cost of living was a major factor in the Democrats' election loss.
"I have given my heart and my soul to our nation," said Biden, adding that it had been the "privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years."
