There was a lot going on in President Joe Biden's 24-minute primetime speech at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall Thursday night. If you felt some whiplash listening to Biden, you’re not alone. 

We are in the midst of a confusing and turbulent political period 10 weeks before the midterms, and it seemed to us that Biden was attempting to weave together and make sense of a lot of contradictory political currents. 

At its core, the speech was about an issue as grave as any that a president might address: what Biden described as “an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.”

Kara Tabor is an audio producer for POLITICO Audio.
Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.