Biden Receives Lifetime Achievement Award from the Edward M. Kennedy Institute
In a striking address that blended existential rhetoric with cultural nostalgia, former President Joe Biden delivered a warning-laced speech in Boston Sunday night, painting a dire picture of American democracy under President Donald Trump and urging citizens to look to comedians — specifically late-night television hosts — as modern defenders of liberty.
The remarks, made at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute upon Biden’s receipt of a Lifetime Achievement Award, marked his first public appearance following radiation therapy for an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Despite his frailty, the 82-year-old former president’s tone was urgent, emotional, and, at times, theatrical.
🤣🤣🤣 Now THAT is funny 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/SLxxJIt2qY
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“These are dark days,” Biden said somberly, casting the current political moment as one of unprecedented danger. His message was unequivocal: America, in his view, is in a democratic crisis — one he ties directly to Trump’s leadership. “Since its founding, America served as a beacon for the most powerful idea ever in government in the history of the world,” Biden declared. “The idea is stronger than any army. We’re more powerful than any dictator.”
That idea, he suggested, is now under siege. He warned that Trump’s use of prolonged government shutdowns is more than political brinkmanship — it is, Biden claimed, a method of consolidating executive power and circumventing the institutional checks that define American governance.
But what captured the most attention — and confusion — was Biden’s impassioned plea for Americans to rally around a most unlikely set of torchbearers for the First Amendment: late-night TV hosts. “The late night hosts continue to shine a light on free speech knowing their careers are on the line,” he said, referring to their dwindling ratings and fading cultural influence. He praised them as symbols of resistance, seemingly elevating their monologues to acts of political bravery on par with institutional dissent.
While the appeal to comedy as a bulwark against authoritarianism might strike some as poetic, others may see it as an odd and telling gesture — invoking a Hollywood once central to national identity, now struggling for relevance in an age of digital decentralization and populist backlash.
Biden’s closing message, a rallying cry of sorts, echoed across the hall: “Get back up.” It was a call not just to resist, but to revive what he described as America’s “true compass.”
Yet the speech raised more questions than it answered. As Trump’s administration continues to operate amidst a near-record government shutdown, Biden’s warnings signal a shift in tone from hopeful unity to overt alarm. Whether the nation responds by looking to comedians for guidance — or sees Biden’s remarks as symbolic of a fading establishment — remains to be seen.