(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will step into the White House Rose Garden on Thursday to speak to the nation for the first time since his party’s bruising defeat at the polls on Tuesday.
The White House announced that he would give an address at 11 a.m. ET.
His address is scheduled to begin a little more than 24 hours after his twice-former opponent, Donald Trump, was projected to have won the presidency. Trump beat Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden endorsed in July, as he stepped aside as the party’s presumptive nominee.
Biden in a statement on Wednesday said that adding Harris to his 2020 Democratic ticket was the first and “best decision” he made in that campaign. He praised Harris, saying she had “stepped up and led a historic campaign” under extraordinary circumstances.
That statement made no mention of Trump, the former Republican president and now president-elect, who will bookend Biden’s sole term in office.
Biden and Harris have both spoken to Trump to offer congratulations to him for winning a second term. And Biden on Wednesday also spoke with Harris on the phone, the White House said.
Harris in a speech on Wednesday conceded the race to Trump.
“Sometimes the fight takes a while … The important thing is don’t ever give up,” she said, speaking at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, D.C.
Biden in his Wednesday statement praised Harris, saying, “Her story represents the best of America’s story.”
“And as she made clear today, I have no doubt she’ll continue writing that story,” he said, according to the White House.
ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
