U.S. Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden pauses at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and CNN’s presidential city hall focused on LGBTQ issues on October 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.
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As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office in the face of more crisis than any other president in modern American history, the stakes for his inaugural speech could not be greater.
A transition official told NBC News that Biden is working on the speech this weekend with his family and his senior adviser Mike Donilon and that he will emphasize familiar themes from his campaign: unity, healing and a vision for the many crises the country is facing. is facing.
Aides also say the speech will echo some of Biden’s recent speeches, which have doubled as opportunities to test inaugural themes.
In unveiling his $ 1.9 trillion economic package last week, Biden considered bipartisanship essential to address the economy and the Covid-19 pandemic: “Unity is not a crooked dream in heaven – it is a practical step towards achieving what we have to do as a country, do it together, “he said.
Still, we are told that we should not expect Biden’s speech to be filled with growing rhetoric. Biden believes that he connects with people more effectively, taking a direct approach.
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As a Democratic source noted, although some of the most famous lines in American political history are from inaugural speeches – “Lincoln’s malice towards no one, charity towards all”, “the only thing we must fear is fear itself”, ” Kennedy “doesn’t ask what your country can do for you” – most Americans probably can’t remember important lines from most others.
There is pressure on speech writers to “write for history”. But Biden’s allies believe that the speech offers an opportunity to continue in the leadership role he was already playing during the transition – in a time of crisis, demonstrating to a much wider audience that he will be tuned in to someone in charge. That is why Biden’s speeches during the transition often included a simple line: “Aid is on the way,” according to this Democratic source.
Workers hang the “Biden Harris Inauguration” banner on a media elevator in Washington, DC, on Thursday, January 14, 2021.
Jim Lo Scalzo | EPA | Bloomberg | Getty Images
“People want a little bit of normalcy and someone who knows what he’s doing and has his hand on the wheel. He’s really good at it,” said the Democratic source. The speech is “it’s going to be Joe Biden” because “unity is part of who Joe Biden is. That’s what he believes in.”
Donilon is the chief architect, as has been Biden’s message not only in this campaign, but in most of his previous campaigns. He is working alongside Vinay Reddy, Biden’s speech writing director, who worked for Biden when he was vice president.
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Biden’s challenge will be to reach voters who still firmly support President Donald Trump. He told Kristen Welker of NBC during the last presidential debate that, if elected, he would use his address to say, “I am an American president. I represent all of you, whether you vote for me or against me, and I am going to make sure you is represented. “
Aides say Biden is likely to end on a similar note that he highlighted in almost every speech he has made in the past six months: there is nothing that Americans cannot do despite these challenges if Americans do it together.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden extends his fist as he answers questions from reporters during a campaign event in Wilmington, Delaware, USA, June 30, 2020.
Kevin Lemarque | Reuters
In an interview on Sunday for ABC’s “This Week”, the new White House Communications Director, Kate Bedingfield, said the speech “will be a reflection of much of what you heard from him during the campaign, which he believes we can bring that country together. He believes that we have to unite this country, that a unified America is the only way to be able to face the massive crises that we are facing. “
She added: “I think you can expect this to be a time when President-elect Biden will really work to try to turn the page on division and hatred for the past four years and really present a positive and optimistic outlook for the country, and chart a path – chart a path that really calls all of us to work together. “
Kristen Welker is the White House’s chief correspondent for NBC News. Mike Memoli is a correspondent for NBC News.