Biden releases his farewell letter to Americans with cryptic warning for Trump
President Joe Biden issued a letter to the nation as part of his farewell tour, saying the 'soul of America' is still at stake four years after he took office.
The warning – a reference to the grave warnings he made while campaigning against rival Donald Trump – came in a 500-word letter that summed up his investments in the country and the recovery from the pandemic.
'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,' Biden wrote. 'And, that's still the case.'
It was an acknowledgement that he had not met one of his core objectives despite the cheerleading content: defeating Trump, something Biden said as recently as last week that he thought he could have done.
The letter came Wednesday, as handful of Trump's key nominees were facing confirmation hearings in the Senate. Trump's AG pick Pam Bondi was quizzed on whether Biden lawfully won the 2020 election. Bondi answered that 'I accept of course that Joe Biden is president of the United States,' using some of the same verbiage many GOP lawmakers use to avoid contradicting Trump.
Biden began his letter looking back to the pandemic, as Americans were emerging from a pandemic that killed 1 million, while enduring job losses, closed schools, and lockdowns.
'Four years ago, we stood in a winter of peril and a winter of possibilities. We were in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War,' Biden wrote. 'But we came together as Americans, and we braved through it. We emerged stronger, more prosperous, and more secure.'
He touted his economic record, which included a string of more than 40 consecutive months of job, but also a period of high inflation that spiked concerns about his handling of the economy and contributed to his election loss.
President Joe Biden penned a farewell letter to the nation defending his record as he prepares to leave office
'Today, we have the strongest economy in the world and have created a record 16.6 million new jobs. Wages are up. Inflation continues to come down. The racial wealth gap is the lowest it’s been in 20 years.'
'We’re rebuilding our entire nation—urban, suburban, rural, and Tribal communities. Manufacturing is coming back to America,' Biden wrote.
Biden has been on a farewell tour, delivering a foreign policy speech where he defended the Afghanistan pullout Monday, designating new national monuments Tuesday, withe a planned prime time speech set for tonight and a trip to South Carolina Sunday, his last full day in office.
'For all those reasons, ending the war was the right thing to do,' the president said in his foreign policy speech. 'And I believe history will reflect that.'
His letter did not dwell on some of his most consequential political decisions – opting to run again despite his advanced age (he is now 82), and deciding to pull out after his debate disaster to clear the way for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden released the letter during his last full week in office
'I ran for president because I believed that the soul of America was at stake,' Biden wrote, in a reference to 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,' Biden wrote. 'And, that's still the case'
Instead, he reflected on his five decades in politics, including as a senator and vice president.
'It has been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years. Nowhere else on Earth could a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, one day sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as President of the United States,' he said. 'I have given my heart and my soul to our nation. And I have been blessed a million times in return with the love and support of the American people.'
