Biden to deliver address in Philadelphia on the 'battle for the soul of the nation'

(Image credit: Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

published 30 August 2022

During a visit to Philadelphia's National Historical Park on Thursday, President Biden plans to deliver a prime-time address on democracy in the United States and "the continued battle for the soul of the nation," a White House official told The Washington Post.

Biden is giving the speech at the same site where the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were debated and signed, and "will talk about the progress we have made as a nation to protect our democracy, but how our rights and freedoms are still under attack," the official said. "He will make clear who is fighting for those rights, fighting for those freedoms, and fighting for our democracy."

In recent weeks, the president has stepped up his denunciation of those who are unwilling to accept the results of elections and are flirting with authoritarianism, declaring during a speech in Maryland that "the MAGA Republicans don't just threaten our personal rights and economic security. They're a threat to our very democracy. They refuse to accept the will of the people. They embrace ... political violence. They don't believe in democracy." He called on "those of you who love this country, Democrats, independents, mainstream Republicans" to "be stronger, more determined, and more committed to saving America than the MAGA Republicans are to destroying America."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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