Just a few weeks ago, President Joe Biden was likely expected to deliver the headlining speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week, an effort to rally the Democratic Party on his way to a rematch with former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.
But all that changed when Biden dropped out of the race last month and endorsed his former running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, to take his place atop the ticket -- and since then, the nascent Democratic nominee has energized the base, holding large rallies in battleground states, raising eye-popping sums of money and erasing Trump's lead in the polls.
Regardless, the White House confirmed Monday that Biden will indeed still speak at next week's convention.
"He's looking forward to, as he tends to do, speak directly to the American people, talk about the moment that we're at, what's at stake, and continue to talk about an issue that is incredibly important to him, which is unity, making sure that we're unified and we continue to do the work that the president has been successful in doing in the past three-and-a-half years," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing on Monday.
Jean-Pierre declined to get into specifics about Biden's scheduled appearance, specifically about whether or not he'll be there when Harris formally accepts the presidential nomination.
"He will certainly speak at the DNC convention, and I think there’ll be a lot of excitement," she said. "I think folks are going to be, again, excited to see the president next week."
Jean-Pierre went on to say that Biden recognizes the "incredibly important moment" he will have at next week's convention and will spend the next several days working on his speech.
"I think you could expect this president to focus on these remarks in the next several days, leading up to Monday," She said. "I think you can expect this president to take this moment -- he understands this is an incredibly important moment that he will have next week at the Democratic National Convention. He’s still very much the leader of the party, right? And he takes that very seriously. And he’s also very proud of his vice president."
Biden is not the only big Democratic standard-bearer expected to speak at next week's convention. Sources told ABC News and NBC News that former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are expected to speak, as well as former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, the party's 2016 nominee for president. NBC News also reported that the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter is expected to give a speech on behalf of his grandfather.
The convention is set to begin Monday, Aug. 19 in Chicago and end Thursday, Aug. 22.