President-elect Joe Biden has been talking a lot on the United States Capitol for more than four decades, but the weight of those words does not come close to the magnitude of the message he will deliver in his inaugural address today.
Biden has been constantly writing the speech – adding a thought here, inserting a line there – since the day after he made a victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware, advisers say. But in those 72 days that have passed, Biden’s burden has become even heavier, with President Trump’s relentless lies complicating the already challenging task of unifying a divided nation.
Mike Donilon, a longtime Biden adviser who will join him in the West Wing, is overseeing the speech-writing process along with Vinay Reddy, Biden’s chief speechwriter. Jon Meacham, the presidential historian and biographer, is also helping to shape the inaugural speech, which will be made as perhaps the most challenging opening mark of the presidency since Franklin Roosevelt.
It is expected to be about 20 minutes long, advisers said, which follows a pattern of speeches sworn in by recent presidents. Four years ago, Trump spoke for 15 minutes, while Barack Obama’s 2009 speech lasted about 18 minutes.
For the first time in modern history, the new president’s successor will not be within arm’s reach on the western front of the Capitol. By the time Biden takes his oath of office, Trump must have arrived at his home in Florida. Aides say Biden is unlikely to mention – or certainly not to insist – on Trump, but could give a nod of appreciation to Vice President Mike Pence, who plans to attend.
The exact wording is a well-kept secret, advisers told CNN. Not only because he wants the message to be fresh, but also because the speech has changed several times – out of necessity, due to the terrible encirclement of the Capitol on January 6, and also because of Biden’s tendency to rewrite speeches until the last minute.
But several people close to Biden say clues to his speech can be found in themes of his speech on November 7, 2020, when he pleaded with Americans: “Let’s give each other a chance.”
“It’s time to put aside the harsh rhetoric, drop the temperature, see each other again. Listen to each other again,” said Biden that cold night. “And to make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as our enemies. They are not our enemies. They are Americans. They are Americans.”
Those words now reach an almost sinister tone, with their mission even more difficult after a pro-Trump crowd trying to prevent Congress from accepting electoral votes has crossed the steps of the Capitol, where Biden will deliver his first message to the nation as president.