Biden to Strongly Defend Harris, Walz in Convention Speech

President Joe Biden’s role at next week’s Democratic National Convention may have been dramatically reshaped by his decision to end his bid for a second term, but his message about the stakes of this election will ring familiar, according to several Biden officials.

The outgoing president will endorse Vice President Kamala Harris’s candidacy to succeed him in his keynote address on Monday, in part by touting her accomplishments over the past four years.

But Biden will also make clear that he still believes Republican nominee Donald Trump poses a grave threat to American democracy and will urge delegates in Chicago and voters across the country to do their part to defeat him again in November, aides say.

“After saving democracy in 2020, President Biden is determined to defeat the threat to democracy posed by Donald Trump,” one official said.

The first day of the convention in Chicago will feature a series of tributes to Biden as he prepares to wrap up a half-century of public service. Just a few weeks ago, of course, the entire convention was about making the case for extending that service for another four years. But now it will offer the president another opportunity to try to shape his legacy.

The president will spend the weekend at Camp David, honing his remarks with the help of senior advisers, including top speechwriters Mike Donilon and Vinay Reddy. The remarks will build on his Oval Office speech shortly after dropping out of the race and will make a compelling case for Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

The speech, officials say, will serve as a reminder of the importance of Biden’s immediate support for Harris after announcing he was ending his candidacy, helping to quickly unite a struggling party behind his historic bid. Although Biden has fought hard to stay in the race after his poor debate performance, his first-night convention speech allows him to pass the torch to her and Walz, Biden officials told NBC News.

“The President is pleased with the momentum the campaign is building and looks forward to advancing his cause,” one official said.

However, Biden aides believe the convention will continue to highlight the Biden-Harris relationship after he leaves, to create a contrast with the Republican ticket.

“Four years ago, America was recovering from a once-in-a-century pandemic, isolated on the world stage, crime was on the rise, the middle class was sidelined,” one official said. “Today: We are the global engine of growth, our alliances are strong, violent crime is at a 50-year low, border crossings are lower than when the previous administration left office, and we are making progress on the issues Americans care about most.”

Members of the Biden family will join the president and first lady, who will speak before her husband. Longtime Biden friends and supporters will also fly together on a charter plane from Delaware to attend the speech, and several aides have hosted a party for them and other current and former staff in Chicago on Monday night.

Other convention elements that were meant to bolster Biden’s candidacy will remain as tributes, starting with a convention logo that borrows his 2020 campaign design. All convention delegates will also receive a “Cup of Joe”-branded coffee, and signage around the United Center on Monday will invoke words from Biden’s Oval Office speech, such as “History is in your hands,” as well as a family mantra: “Spread the faith.”

Biden will leave Chicago after his speech Monday to spend the rest of the week in Southern California. There, he will reunite with top advisers who have worked for the past month to lay out plans for his remaining months in office.

A Biden official said the president “will have a busy domestic schedule, traveling across the country to continue to remind Americans that they will have to choose between his vision and the vice president’s to move the country forward, not backward.”

“And the president will fight to make every day of his term count to build on these historic successes,” the official added. “Expect aggressive implementation of landmark legislation, actions to lower costs, and a robust foreign policy agenda.”