Surprising serenity. Shortly before noon on Thursday, November 7, two days after the presidential election that he decided to drop out of in July, Joe Biden gave a speech in the Rose Garden of the White House. He hadn't been seen since Donald Trump's victory but his name was at the heart of discussions, on the left, about the reasons for Kamala Harris's failure. Like his vice president the day before, Biden shone in defeat. He promised "a peaceful and orderly transition," in clear contrast to 2020 and Trump's then multi-faceted coup attempt to overturn the outcome of the presidential election.

"I've said many times you can't love your country only when you win," said Biden. "You can't love your neighbor only when you agree." The president spoke on the phone with the man who will be his successor in the White House. He paid tribute to Kamala Harris's "inspiring campaign" and emphasized her iron character. Biden also took the opportunity to dismiss the conspiracy theories about electoral fraud that have been at the heart of the Trumpist movement for the past four years. "I also hope we can lay to rest the question about the integrity of the American electoral system," said the president. "It is honest, it is fair, and it is transparent. And it can be trusted, win or lose."

The most awaited part of his speech was about the lessons he learned from the election. Biden's message to Democratic activists was both optimistic and self-congratulatory. "Don't forget all that we accomplished," he said. "It's been a historic presidency – not because I'm president – because of what we've done." Biden was forced to acknowledge a gap between the investments in the country's future, which will materialize "over the next ten years," and the immediate perception of the working class. "We're going to see over a trillion dollars' worth of infrastructure work done, changing people's lives in rural communities and communities that are in real difficulty," the president said. "You know, we're leaving behind the strongest economy in the world," he added. "I know people are still hurting. But things are changing rapidly." Not rapidly enough to win the 2024 election.

To conclude his speech, Biden pronounced a few classic voluntarist phrases, urging his camp not to give up. " Setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable. (...) The America of your dreams is calling for you to get back up." It may take some time. For the time being, the left is torn between immediate dread, regarding the intentions of the future Trump administration and questions about its own strategy and language in the light of the rupture observed with a large part of the working class.

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