Former President Joe Biden has described current times as “dark days” while urging Americans to remain optimistic and engaged, in response to what he characterised as attacks on free speech and tests on the limits of executive power by President Donald Trump. Speaking in Boston on Sunday night after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, Biden said: “Since its founding, America served as a beacon for the most powerful idea ever in government in the history of the world. The idea is stronger than any army. We’re more powerful than any dictator.”
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Addressing an audience publicly for the first time since completing radiation therapy for an aggressive form of prostate cancer, Biden emphasised the importance of a presidency with limited powers, a functioning Congress, and an independent judiciary. He warned that the federal government’s second-longest shutdown on record had allowed Trump to exercise new forms of control over government operations, describing the situation as a test for democratic institutions. “Friends, I can’t sugar coat any of this. These are dark days,” he said, adding that the country would “find our true compass again” and “emerge as we always have — stronger, wiser and more resilient, more just, so long as we keep the faith.”
Biden highlighted individuals and groups standing their ground in the face of threats, including federal employees who resign in protest, universities, comedians, and Republican officials who vote against the Trump administration. “The late night hosts continue to shine a light on free speech knowing their careers are on the line,” he said. “America is not a fairy tale. For 250 years, it’s been a constant push and pull, an existential struggle between peril and possibility.” He concluded by urging people to “get back up.”
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The former president left office in January after serving one term and later withdrew from a bid for re-election amid concerns about his age, health, and mental fitness. In May, his office revealed he had been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer that had spread to his bones, with a Gleason score of 9, indicating a highly aggressive form of the disease. Despite these challenges, Biden’s speech sought to inspire resilience and confidence in the ongoing strength of American democracy.
