AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Just three days ago, President Biden shocked the world, posting a one-page letter on social media saying that he was dropping out of the race for a second term in office. And he endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, to take his place at the top of the ticket.
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VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Tonight, our president will address the nation about his decision to step down as a candidate. And he will talk about not only the work - the extraordinary work that he has accomplished, but about his work in the next six months.
CHANG: That, of course, was the vice president speaking today in Indianapolis. She's trying to make up for lost time on the campaign trail, given that there's only about a hundred days or so until the election. But tonight, President Biden is the one who will be taking the spotlight with an Oval Office address. NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram joins us now. Hi, Deepa.
DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Hey there.
CHANG: OK, so tell us what we're expecting Biden to say tonight.
SHIVARAM: I mean, look, let's back up for a second. This is the first time we'll really hear from him in a whole week, right? A week ago, he was in Las Vegas. He was still trying to show his party that he had what it takes to run for office. And he'd been fighting that fight for three weeks since that disastrous debate.
But public calls from Democratic leaders were building and building for him to step back. And then, on top of all of that, he got COVID...
CHANG: Right.
SHIVARAM: ...And he was stuck in his house at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware for days. And then, on Sunday, he sent that letter out on social media, saying he had come to the decision that it was in the best interest of the party and the country for him to drop out of the race. So tonight is the first time we get to hear him explain why.
And like you mentioned, I mean, this is an Oval Office address. These are rare. Although, I will say, in these constantly unprecedented times that we're in...
CHANG: (Laughter).
SHIVARAM: ...Biden gave one shortly after former President Trump was shot at that rally in Pennsylvania.
CHANG: Thank you for reminding us. I mean, it has been an extraordinary time in political news. I can barely keep up.
SHIVARAM: Yeah.
CHANG: How is the president's party viewing this speech tonight?
SHIVARAM: Well, that's kind of interesting because, I mean, Biden really believed that he was the person who should be at the top of the ticket. I mean, remember, recently, he said in an interview that only the Lord Almighty could convince him otherwise. But, you know, there was that steady stream of his colleagues telling him, and the polls were bad - all of that after the debate performance that he had last month - all the polls and people saying that he thought - they thought he would lose to Trump.
And since he decided to step back and made that decision on Sunday, which the White House is saying was a very personal decision, there have been a lot of accolades. I mean, take a listen to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking today.
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CHUCK SCHUMER: President Biden's decision to stand down from a second term in office will go down as one of the greatest acts of patriotism of any president in our long, storied United States history. To pass the torch is one of the hardest decisions possible for someone whose life has been entirely about leadership. But he did it because he believed it was the right thing to do for the country he loved so much.
CHANG: OK, so a lot of applause for President Biden from his party. But now this president is what's known as a lame duck, right? Like, he's in the final months of his time in office. What do you think the last months of his presidency is going to look like?
SHIVARAM: I mean, that's what we expect to hear more from him about tonight. I mean, Biden had been telling voters that he wanted to finish the job, which was pitch for a whole second term - right? - another four years. And now those plans that Biden had all have to be condensed into the next five or so months.
His press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, did say today he doesn't see himself as a lame duck. But one thing he might invest time in is securing a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, which is something Biden has been trying to get done for months now. Tomorrow, he is going to be speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House about that.
CHANG: That is NPR's Deepa Shivaram at the White House. Thank you so much, Deepa.
SHIVARAM: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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