CHICAGO – After waiting nearly an hour to deliver a scheduled-for-prime-time speech that was pushed to nearly 11:30 p.m. Eastern time, President Joe Biden waited an extra three minutes at the lectern on the first night of the Democratic National Convention as chants from party faithful drowned out his attempts to begin.
When planning for the convention began, Biden was expected to speak, as the party’s nominee, on the final night.
Instead, he spoke Monday as a leader a few months away from retirement, and as a bridge to new Democratic leadership.
“I love my job,” he said as he approached the end of his remarks. “But I love my country more.”
In the final minutes of perhaps the final major political speech in a half-century-long career, Biden quoted a song by Gene Scheer.
“America, America, I gave my best to you,” he said.
Early and often as he spoke, the thousands of Democratic delegates at the United Center voiced their appreciation, delaying and interrupting him with chants of “We love Joe.”
Hours after another crowd, protesters opposed to Biden’s handling of Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, gathered outside the convention hall, Biden gave his strongest remarks to date on the conflict, calling for a cease-fire. He conceded the protesters “have a point.”
Biden’s address provided a glimpse of what an acceptance speech for a second Democratic nomination might have looked like. But instead of promising what he would do in a second term, he said Vice President Kamala Harris would continue the administration’s work.
Biden endorsed Harris as his replacement on the Democratic ticket when he withdrew from the race last month under pressure from Democratic leaders, following his debate performance in June.
In a moment that seemed to surprise Biden, Harris and second spouse Doug Emhoff joined the president and first lady on stage directly after the speech.
‘The best volunteer’
Throughout the address, Biden promoted his own record and said Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, possessed the same values and character that would lead to policies Democrats want.
“I promise I’ll be the best volunteer the Harris and Walz campaign has ever seen,” he said.
Much of his remarks were also focused on the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, whom Biden defeated in the 2020 election.
Biden’s appearance was bumped out of the prime-time block, as scores of earlier speakers and performers forced Democrats’ debut night further and further off schedule. Some had to be rescheduled.
“Because of the raucous applause interrupting speaker after speaker, we ultimately skipped elements of our program to ensure we could get to President Biden as quickly as possible so that he could speak directly to the American people,” convention officials said in a statement.
“We are proud of the electric atmosphere in our convention hall and proud that our convention is showcasing the broad and diverse coalition behind the Harris-Walz ticket throughout the week on and off the stage.”
Infrastructure, gun safety, prescription drugs
Biden promoted his record over nearly four years in office. The country was no longer in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
He said wages were trending up and inflation was moving down, though he noted there was still more to do on those issues.
He delivered a massive infrastructure bill, signed a bipartisan gun safety law and worked to bring costs of prescription drugs down.
Promoting the successes of his administration, Biden highlighted Harris’ role.
When he mentioned the passage of a major Democratic bill in 2022 to boost clean energy production, cap some prescription drug costs and other measures, the crowd responded with a chant of “Thank you, Joe.”
“Thank you, Kamala, too,” Biden replied.
Middle East
Biden also said he had much still to do and addressed an issue that has divided Democrats during the past year of his presidency: Israel’s war in Gaza.
He said his administration was working to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“And finally, finally, finally deliver a cease-fire and end this war,” he said, pounding the lectern with his fist. “Those protesters out in the street, they have a point. A lot of innocent people are getting killed on both sides.”
On other issues, he said Harris and Walz would continue his work.
“Kamala and Tim will make the child tax cut permanent,” he said, referring to a COVID 19-era provision that increased a tax credit for families.
Contrast with Trump
Biden called Trump a tool of authoritarian leaders, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Biden repeated a story he told throughout the 2020 campaign that he decided to run for president and challenge Trump’s reelection after Trump excused a deadly rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Biden rejected political violence and professed a commitment to enduring democracy, a theme he sounded in his 2020 campaign that only gained more relevance after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters who sought to keep him in the White House.
Trump has again not said he would accept the results of an election loss, Biden said.
Electing Harris was a necessary step in protecting democracy, he said.
“Democracy has prevailed, democracy has delivered,” he said. “And now, democracy must be preserved.”
Union message
As he has through much of his half-century in national politics, Biden appealed to union members, a traditional Democratic constituency.
“Wall Street didn’t build America,” he said. “The middle class built America, and unions built the middle class.”
He said he was proud to have walked the picket line with striking member of the United Auto Workers.
Earlier in the evening, UAW President Shawn Fain in remarks to the crowd praised Biden for making history as the first president to walk a picket line.
Passing the torch
Speakers throughout the evening praised Biden for his record in office and for passing the torch to Harris.
Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a Biden ally who took Biden’s seat in the Senate after Biden was elected vice president, said Biden helped the nation recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Jan. 6 attack.
“On behalf of our nation, Joe, for your courage in fighting for our democracy, we thank you,” Coons said. “On behalf of our Democratic Party, for fighting for our Democratic values, we thank you.”
First lady Jill Biden said the president worked for causes larger than himself, which she was reminded of as she saw him “dig deep into his soul and decide to no longer seek reelection and endorse Kamala Harris.”
U.S. Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the third-ranking Democrat in the House for years, also praised Biden’s decision to make Harris his running mate, and to endorse her when he dropped out.
Talking to reporters after his official remarks, Clyburn said a Harris victory in November would bookend Biden’s role in Black presidential history. After serving eight years as vice president to the first Black president, Clyburn said, Biden chose the first Black vice president, Harris.
If Harris wins the November election, Clyburn said, “Joe Biden goes down in history as probably the most transformational president this country’s ever had.”
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