Biden To Honor John McCain In Democracy-Themed Speech Day After Second GOP Debate 

President Joe Biden will honor the late John McCain in a democracy-focused speech in the former senator's home state of Arizona the day after the second Republican presidential debate.

The White House announced Thursday that the speech is scheduled for Sept. 28 and will honor the "legacy" of McCain, who was the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, and focus on “the work we must do together to strengthen our democracy.” 

Earlier this month, Biden visited a memorial for McCain in Hanoi, Vietnam, near the site where his aircraft was was shot down in 1967 during the Vietnam War. McCain, who died of brain cancer in 2018, spent more than five years in the Vietnamese city as a prisoner of war. 

“I miss him. He was a good friend,” Biden said of his onetime Senate colleague.

Biden has also made protecting democracy a focus of his 2024 reelection campaign.

Biden's speech in will cap a three-day swing in California and Arizona that includes a series of campaign fundraisers ahead of the third quarter filing deadline at the end of the month. The president will also host a meeting with the Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in California, according to the White House.

The second GOP presidential debate will take place next Wednesday in California, but will not include the frontrunner to take on Biden next year, former President Donald Trump.