On his last day in office, Biden urges his supporters in Charleston to ‘remain hopeful’

President Biden spent his last full day in office in South Carolina, a state that helped catapult him to the White House and where he returned in his final hours as president to urge his supporters to stay engaged in the fight for a more just nation. .

During visits to a historically black church and an African-American museum, Mr. Biden reflected on his history with a place that he said played a central role in his life and career and that pushed him into his efforts to restore “the soul of the nation.”

“We know that the fight to redeem the soul of this nation is difficult and ongoing,” Mr. Biden said Sunday as he addressed the congregation of the Royal Missionary Baptist Church, a historically black congregation that he visited during the election campaign in 2020. “But faith – faith teaches us that the America of our dreams is always closer than we think.

He added: “We must remain hopeful. We must stay engaged. We must always keep faith in a better day to come. I’m not going anywhere, I’m not kidding. South Carolinians, please keep the faith. It has been the honor of my life to be your president.

Mr. Biden’s decision to end his term in the Lowcountry appears to be cathartic for the outgoing president, whose last speech contained a grim warning against the American “oligarchy” and who is leaving a role he has long revered after having been rejected by his own party. and an American electorate he served for more than half a century.