Like the United States, the Statue of Liberty does not stop. His foot literally steps on top of a damaged chain of human slavery. She’s on the move. And she literally moves. It was built to rock back and forth, to face the fury of storms, to stand the test of time, because storms come. It swings a few inches, but never lands on what’s underneath.

We can assume that the typhoon Biden is referring to is that of Donald Trump and his new administration.  

Biden didn’t promise the American people that the government (the Supreme Court, Congress, the president) would protect them from the storm, he told the American people that they would have to protect themselves. With this speech, Biden did not pass the baton to his successor, as he would probably do if it were any other politician, but rather he passed the baton to them.

In this sense, the last lines of the president’s speech were perhaps the most striking. Biden told Americans it was their turn to “stand guard. ” 

It is a message that responds to the moment. As he explained, an oligarchy is taking shape in the United States. In the next administration, tech executives and billionaires will most likely have free access to the Oval Office.   The Supreme Court is facing a moral crisis.

Biden’s final message to America was that we cannot depend on those other people to protect us. We will have to protect all of us and the establishments that make America what it is.

Allison Detzel contributed.

Jen Psaki is the host of “Inside with Jen Psaki” airing Sundays at 12 p.m. ET and Mondays at 8 p.m. EST. She is the former White House press secretary for President Joe Biden.  

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