For the first time since leaving the presidency, Joseph Biden delivered a speech. By publicly criticizing Donald Trump, he has given American political scientists and political commentators jobs. The prevailing view is that Biden tried to consolidate the Democratic Party so that it would finally come to its senses after last year’s defeat and begin an active struggle with the current administration. Or maybe the retired head of state has launched a campaign to find a rival to Trump from the Democrats in the 2028 presidential election. There are no obvious candidates for this role, and California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has not ruled out the presidency for himself, looks like the most prominent centrist politician so far.
Although the changes have been rapid in the country since Trump came to power, only one ex-president, Barack Obama, has commented on them. As recently as April 15, for example, he publicly stood up for Harvard University, which Trump threatened to strip of its tax-exempt status as punishment for pro-Palestinian student actions. And Biden steadfastly remained silent, although it would seem appropriate for him to comment on the actions of the White House administration most actively these days. After all, Trump has long violated the American political tradition that an ex-president does not criticize his successor, at least publicly. His supporters declared such criticism almost the responsibility of the retired head of state.
Biden decided to speak out in Chicago at a Social Security Agency event. It became a target of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk. He threatens to lay off thousands of agency employees and close some offices. In his speech, Biden accused Trump (though without naming him) of ruining everything in the country. “In less than 100 days, this new administration has caused so much evil and destruction that it takes your breath away,” Biden said. According to him, only 30% of Americans who “don’t have a heart” are satisfied with the current state of affairs in the United States.
It did not escape commentators that the 82-year-old Biden looked quite cheerful, one might say unusually cheerful. However, his speech was not long either.
In any case, Biden’s speech is significant in its own way. It is also important that it was delivered a few days after the publication of The New York Times. The newspaper, citing sources, reports that Kamala Harris has decided to return to active politics. Trump’s rival in last year’s election intends to run for governor of California. According to a survey conducted by the Jack Citrin Sociological Center at the University of Berkeley (UC Berkeley’s Citrin Center), a total of 70% of supporters of the Democratic Party in this state support Harris’ candidacy. And California is the traditional patrimony of the Democrats.
The post of head of state will be vacated in 2026. The current governor, Democrat Newsom, has no right to seek a third term. Now the 57-year-old politician, who had not previously ruled out running for president in 2028, is actively opposing Trump. His latest step in this direction is an appeal to Canadians to come to California, where, according to the governor, they are treated well and do not share the president’s plans to take over their country. Perhaps Biden is signaling that he is ready to support Harris’ candidacy, or rather the whole combination, which in this case suggests itself. Harris becomes governor, having retained a key state for the Democrats, Newsom is elected to Congress in 2026 and will criticize Trump there from the post of speaker of one of the chambers, gaining political capital for himself.
According to Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, it’s more likely that it’s something else. In a comment to NG, he recalled the February advice to Democrats from political strategist James Carville – to do nothing, but just be patient and wait for the Trump administration to inevitably collapse itself. “But so far there is only a crisis in the Democratic Party. There is no clear leader in it, it is a collection of factions: conservative, centrist, left. The latter has become especially active,” Vasilyev recalls. Indeed, leftists are holding protests against Trump. The press even seriously suggests that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the House of Representatives, may become a rival to the president. “And that’s all Trump needs: it’s easier to fight his opponents if they’re left-wing radicals. The party is aware of this. There are many who believe that the overly large lurch to the left that Harris took during her election campaign played a cruel joke on her. So Biden is trying to rectify the situation, to act as, if not a leader, then some kind of consolidating center for the Democrats,” the expert believes.
