Biden to address nation

US President Joe Biden will make a painful address to the nation Thursday, vowing a peaceful transfer of power to Donald Trump after his political nemesis scored a crushing election win over Kamala Harris.

The White House announced that he will speak in the Rose Garden of the White House at 11am (1600 GMT) to “discuss the election results and the transition” to Trump’s second term.

His address is scheduled to begin a little more than 24 hours after his twice-former opponent, Donald Trump, was projected to have won the presidency. Trump beat Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden endorsed in July, as he stepped aside as the party’s presumptive nominee.

Biden in a statement on Wednesday said that adding Harris to his 2020 Democratic ticket was the first and “best decision” he made in that campaign. He praised Harris, saying she had “stepped up and led a historic campaign” under extraordinary circumstances.

That statement made no mention of Trump, the former Republican president and now president-elect, who will bookend Biden’s sole term in office.

Biden and Harris have both called Trump to offer congratulations to him for winning a second term. And Biden on Wednesday also spoke with Harris on the phone, the White House said.

Harris in a speech on Wednesday conceded the race to Trump._Agencies