President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Arizona in the upcoming week to give a speech centered on democracy. Additionally, he will honor the late John McCain, who served as the state’s representative in the U.S. Senate for over thirty years and was the Republican presidential candidate in 2008.
Biden’s speech, which is scheduled for Sept. 28 and expected in the Phoenix area, will focus on “the work we must do together to strengthen our democracy,” the White House said Thursday. The remarks will also honor the legacy of McCain, whose memorial in Hanoi Biden visited earlier this month during his trip to India and Vietnam.
Biden expressed his longing for McCain during the memorial, which took place close to the area where McCain’s Skyhawk dive bomber was shot down by the North Vietnamese in 1967. McCain endured over five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Biden also acknowledged McCain as a close and valued friend.
Biden has given a handful of other democracy-centered addresses, including at Independence Hall in Philadelphia a year ago and at Union Station in Washington shortly before the November midterm elections. The issue of preserving democracy is expected to be a key theme in his reelection campaign.
Biden will spend two days in San Francisco before going to Arizona. During his time there, he will convene a meeting of the president’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, which is dedicated to formulating innovation policies.
The president, who announced his intention to run for reelection in April, is also engaging in a series of fundraising events before the end of the third quarter this month. As stated by the White House, he will be the main attraction at three fundraisers in California and one in Arizona during his trip.
