Biden warns America's 'soul' at stake as Trump comeback looms

by Danny KEMP

U.S. 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 before the return of Donald Trump.

The 82-year-old Democrat will make a primetime speech from the Oval Office of the White House in which Biden is expected to tout the legacy of his single term in power.

Ahead of the address at 8:00 pm (0100 GMT Thursday) Biden also released a letter to the American people which delivered 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 United States 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 he decided to run in the 2020 election because America's "soul" was at risk from Trump and his supporters.

- 'Privilege of my life' -

Biden added that he had asked the White House to also release a long list of what he said were his administration's achievements on issues ranging from the economy to healthcare and climate.

He said the United States 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.

The outgoing president has spent much of his final days in power trying to burnish a legacy damaged by his decision to run for a second term despite his age.

Biden was forced to drop out of the race last June after a disastrous debate against Trump, 78, who went on to win a commanding victory over Biden's Vice President Kamala Harris.

But he said it had been the "privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years."

Biden's address to the nation comes just two days after a foreign policy speech on Monday in which Biden said he had left the United States stronger on the world stage.

The farewell address has become a tradition for US presidents as they leave office.

George Washington, the first president, issued perhaps the most famous in 1796 -- in the form of a letter -- as he declined a third term and called for national unity.

The tradition was revived in the 20th century with the advent of radio and television, and Harry Truman was the first to do so from the Oval Office, in 1953.

© Agence France-Presse