Joe Biden handed the baton to Kamala Harris to deafening cheers at the Democratic convention on Monday, delivering a lengthy speech.
Just a month ago, the outgoing president, 81, expected to go to Chicago to triumphantly receive his party’s nomination to run for re-election on November 5. After all, it was just a formal procedure.
Last night he promised to be the “best volunteer” in the campaign of his 59-year-old vice-president, who made an unexpected brief appearance on stage.
Joe Biden called on American voters to elect Kamala Harris, the former “prosecutor” to the presidency rather than Donald Trump, the “convicted criminal”.
“We love you Joe!” or “Thank you Joe!”, delegates shouted almost throughout his speech, moved, several in tears.
“We are fighting for the very soul of America,” he said, returning to one of the most iconic expressions of his presidency.
“We are eternally grateful” to the “incredible” president, Ms Harris said earlier in her unscheduled appearance alone on stage.
“I made mistakes, but I gave it my all”
“For fifty years, I gave my heart, my soul to the country,” the veteran Democrat said in what seemed like a farewell convention speech after half a century in politics. He will leave the White House in January.
“America, I gave everything for you. I made mistakes in my career. But I gave it my all,” he insisted, referencing the song “American Anthem,” as he performed at his inauguration in January 2021.
Biden, “loveable” and “fighter”
The appearance of Mr. Biden caused intense emotional manifestations, especially from the first lady Jill Biden, who after half a century of marriage said that she often “falls back in love” with him, or from his daughter Ashley, who described him as “a fighter who was underestimated all his life” life”. After all, the entire Biden family came on stage after the speech was over.
“It has been the honor of my life to become your president. I love this job, but I love my country even more,” Mr. Biden said, referring to the decision to end his campaign for re-election to the White House.
For nearly an hour, President Biden touted the accomplishments of his presidency and Mrs. Harris’s contribution to them.
The speech, combative, sometimes referred to those he delivered when he was still a candidate.
“All this talk about me being furious with people telling me I should retire was not true,” the outgoing president assured.
Kamala Harris, who will be crowned by the delegates with a symbolic vote, as she has already received the anointing of the faction, following procedures conducted digitally, will speak the day after tomorrow Thursday.
The polls and the Trump fire
Democrats were worried they were headed for defeat in November when the octogenarian president was still their candidate and the polls looked bleak.
But after he stepped down on July 21, they resumed dreaming of victory, with their 59-year-old candidate now ahead of Donald Trump in most opinion polls.
Donald Trump, trying to stem its momentum, will appear this week in several strategic states for speeches.
In one of his speeches, in Pennsylvania, the Republican former president attacked the “communist” plans of Mrs. Harris, while he repeated, without presenting any proof, that his opponent and the Democratic leadership did ” coup” against Joe Biden.
Hillary Clinton, a failed 2016 presidential candidate, reminded the convention in Chicago that nothing has yet been won.
Later today, former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama will appear, who couldn’t help but be treated to stars in their stronghold of Chicago.
The American vice president will make a lightning appearance in Wisconsin, also a key state that is contested.
Biden’s comment on the protests outside the Congress
The Democratic convention began against the backdrop of pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which, however, did not cause a real problem at the event. On the first day, the mobilization was attended by thousands of citizens, but the volume of the mobilization was rather smaller than some of its organizers had expected.
The protesters “have some right”, estimated Joe Biden, who would like to be able to boast at the conference that he scored a diplomatic success, that is, that he secured the conclusion of a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip – something that continues to seem difficult .
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