US President Joe Biden on Monday delivered his valedictory address to the Democratic National Convention (DNC), saying: “I gave my best to you,” and basking in a long ovation that reflected the energy released by his decision to cede the stage to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden, 81, received a hero’s welcome weeks after many in his party were pressuring him to drop his bid for re-election. One month after an unprecedented mid-campaign switch, the opening night of the convention in Chicago was designed to give a graceful exit to the incumbent president and slingshot Harris toward a faceoff with Republican Donald Trump, whose comeback bid for the White House is viewed by Democrats as an existential threat.
Biden said he did not harbor any ill will about the impending end of his tenure — despite reports to the contrary — and called on the party to unite around Harris.
Photo: APMartin)
“I made a lot of mistakes in my career, but I gave my best to you,” he said.
Speaking clearly and energetically, Biden relished the chance to defend his record, advocate for his vice president and go on the attack against Trump. Visibly emotional when he took the stage, Biden was greeted by a more than four-minute-long ovation and chants of “Thank you Joe.”
“America, I love you,” he said.
He called his selection of Harris as his running mate four years ago “the very first decision I made when I became our nominee, and it was the best decision I made my whole career.”
“She’s tough, she’s experienced and she has enormous integrity, enormous integrity,” he said. “Her story represents the best American story.”
“And like many of our best presidents,” he added in a nod to his own career, “she was also vice president.”
Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff came out after his address to embrace him and his family.
“Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation, and for all you’ll continue to do,” she said earlier in the evening. “We are forever grateful to you.”
Biden also celebrated the successes from his administration, including a massive boost in infrastructure spending and a cap on the price of insulin.
The spending resulted in more money going to Republican-leaning states than Democratic states, because “the job of the president is to deliver for all of America,” he said.
Biden recalled the 2017 “unite the right” rally, when torch-carrying white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, an episode he cites as cementing his decision to run for president in 2020, despite his ongoing grief over the death of his son Beau.
Former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was greeted with prolonged applause, saluted Harris while noting her potential to break the “highest, hardest glass ceiling” to become America’s first female president. Clinton was the Democratic nominee in 2016, but she lost that election to Trump.
“Together, we’ve put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” Clinton said, invoking a metaphor she referenced in her concession speech eight years ago. “On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris taking the oath of office as our 47th president of the United States. When a barrier falls for one of us, it clears the way for all of us.”
Clinton also saluted Biden for stepping aside, saying: “Now we are writing a new chapter in America’s story.”
Highlighting the party’s generational reach, Clinton, 76, followed US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 34, who endorsed Harris while delivering the first mention of the war in Gaza from the convention stage, addressing an issue that has split the party’s base ever since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s resulting offensive.
Outside the arena, thousands of protesters descended on Chicago to decry the Biden-Harris administration’s support for the Israeli war effort.
Biden acknowledged the protests as he spoke, saying: “Those protesters out in the street have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides.”
He reiterated his push to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire deal that would also see the release of hostages taken by Hamas.
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