Democrats honored President Joe Biden’s lengthy public service career while embracing Vice President Harris as their presidential nominee.
The Democratic Party honored President Joe Biden’s 53-year career in public service on Monday while enthusiastically embracing Vice President Kamala Harris during the opening night of the Democratic National Convention.
Biden, who delivered the keynote address, took the stage just a month after he decided to suspend his reelection bid.
Slated for prime time, Democrats’ lagging convention programming pushed Biden’s speech to just before 11:30 p.m. ET and it ran well past midnight. Convention officials said in a statement other elements of the night were skipped to allow Biden to give his address.
Taking the stage after being introduced by his daughter, Ashley, Biden emerged to a thunderous standing ovation in the stadium and chants of “Thank you, Joe.”
Biden touted his administration’s accomplishments while also heaping praise on Harris for her role in it.
“As your president, I’ve been determined to keep America moving forward, not going back. To stand against hate and violence in all its forms, to be a nation where we not only live with but thrive on diversity, demonizing no one, leaving no one behind, and become a nation that we profess to be.”
He also touted the bills he passed that “did more for red states than blue because a president must deliver for all Americans.”
“Because of you – and I’m not exaggerating, because of you – we’ve had one of the most extraordinary four years of progress ever, period. And when I say ‘we,’ I mean Kamala and me.”
He framed the upcoming election as an existential fight for the country’s future.
“We’re facing an inflection point, one of those rare moments in history when the decisions we make now will determine the fate of our nation and the world for decades to come. That’s not hyperbole. I mean it literally. We’re in a battle for the very soul of America.”
“She’ll be a president respected by world leaders because she already is. She’ll be a president we can all be proud of, and she will be a historic president who puts her stamp on America’s future,” he said.
He called his decision to choose her to be his vice president “the best decision I made in my whole career,” adding that “like many of our best presidents, she was also a vice president.”
A night honoring Biden and his legacy was expected in the weeks leading up to the convention.
Making an unannounced appearance onstage early in the evening, Harris kicked off the tributes to Biden, thanking him for “historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation, and for all you’ll continue to do.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also thanked him, calling him “democracy’s champion at home and abroad.” She added that he “brought dignity, decency, and competence back to the White House, and he showed what it means to be a true patriot.”
Jill Biden praised her husband’s service and recalled his decision to exit the race and endorse Harris.
While Biden remained the focal point of the evening, many of the speakers Monday night also pivoted to Harris, calling on voters to back her.
Jill Biden praised Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, saying, “You will win. And you are inspiring a new generation.”
She recounted her son Beau telling her and her husband about Harris, who he was close friends with.
“He told me at the dinner table one night, ‘Mom, she’s special – someone to keep your eye on,’” she said. “And he was right. Joe and I know Kamala. We have seen her courage, her determination, and her leadership up close.”
Clinton, who was wearing a white suit as a nod to suffragists, argued that Harris would be a president who would fight for Americans.
“As president, she will always have our backs and she will be a fighter for us. She will fight to lower costs for hard-working families, open the doors wide for good-paying jobs and, yes, she will restore abortion rights nationwide,” Clinton said.
Passing the baton as the first female candidate to win the presidential nomination by a major political party, Clinton said of Harris that “the future is here.”
“On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th president of the United States,” said Clinton. “Because my friends, when a barrier falls for one of us, it falls and clears the way for all of us.”
Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, a close ally of Biden who is widely credited with saving his campaign in 2020, thanked Biden “for one of the best decisions he made: selecting Kamala Harris as his vice president and endorsing her to succeed him.”
“Our great democracy has been tested and so has the basic goodness of the American people,” he said, adding that Americans would continue to work toward a “more perfect union.”
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