President Joe Biden cried, shouted and mangled his words as his swan song speech at the Democratic National Convention was delayed until the dead of night in a stinging blow after he dropped out of the race.
The 81-year-old took the stage in Chicago on Monday night to pass the torch the to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris on a night of delays that bumped his historic farewell remarks from primetime TV.
Biden’s keynote address closing the first day of the convention didn’t start until 10:25 p.m. local time, and he finished after clocks had struck midnight on the east coast.
The president began by wiping away a tear as his daughter Ashley introduced him in front of thousands of fans in the United Center chanting ‘we love Joe’.
His eyes were also visibly watery during parts of his farewell speech, as the oldest president in US history was overcome with emotion.
He ended what will be one of the last major speeches of his 53-year political career with Democratic nominee Harris and a flurry of Biden family members including son Hunter by his side.
Biden insisted he wasn’t angry about stepping aside, despite a slew of Democrats demanding he drop out, and said he was acting for the good of the country.
‘I promise I will be the best volunteer Harris and Walz’s campaign has ever seen,’ the president said.
In typical Biden fashion, he mangled a portion of the speech, as he talked about abortion rights.
‘Women are now without electrical… not allowed, excuse me, not without electoral, electoral… or political power,’ he fumbled, as he tried to cite the Dobbs Supreme Court case, which overturned Roe v. Wade.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and Doug Emhoff, along with Hunter Biden and other Biden family members at the end of the president’s DNC speech
Ashley Biden and U.S. President Joe Biden embrace on stage at the DNC in Chicago
As he messed up the words, he made a knowing look and laughed.
Later in the speech he recalled his childhood stutter – and how he persevered to become president of the United States.
‘Nowhere else in the world could a kid with a stutter and modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania and Delaware grow up to sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office,’ he said. ‘That’s because America is and always has been a nation of possibilties, possibillty. We must never lose that.’
He gave a full-throated endorsement to Harris – and did so with humor.
Biden said picking the U.S. senator from California to be his vice president was the ‘best decision’ he made in his decades-long career.
‘Like many of our best presidents, she was also vice president,’ he said.
The 81-year-old also protested and said he wasn’t angry about having to give up his ambition to serve a second term.
‘All this talk about how I’m angry about all the people who said I should step down, that’s not true,’ he said.
He noted how he had five months left in office.
‘I’ve got a lot to do – I intend to get it done,’ he said.
‘It’s been an honor of my lifetime. I love the job. But I love my country more,’ the president continued.
He pushed that was the determining factor when he made his shocking decision on July 21 to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, endorsing Harris on his way out the door.
Joe Biden is seen wiping a tear from his eye during his farewell speech to the Democrat party in Chicago Monday night
President Joe Biden embraces son Hunter Biden after delivering remarks Monday night at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago
President Joe Biden (right) wipes away a tear as he arrives to give his swansong Democratic National Convention speech Monday night in Chicago. He was introduced by first daughter, Ashley Biden (left)
President Joe Biden (left) walks offstage with baby Beau (right) after giving his Democratic National Convention speech Monday night. He’s heading to California for the rest of the week
President Joe Biden (right) embraced Vice President Kamala Harris (left) onstage at the Democratic National Convention after he concluded his remarks
President Joe Biden raises hands with Vice President Kamala Harris as his family members flooded the stage after he concluded his remarks at the Democratic National Convention Monday night
‘I was too young to be in the Senate because I wasn’t 30 yet and too old to stay as president,’ he said.
He noted that he had made ‘a lot of mistakes’ in his career. ‘But I gave my best to you,’ he said. ‘For 50 years, like many of you, I give my heart and soul to the nation.’
Throughout the speech, he slapped around Trump.
‘Donald Trump calls America a failing nation,’ Biden pointed out. ‘He’s the loser. He’s dead wrong.’
‘America’s winning, and the world’s better off for it,’ the president stated.
He called out Trump for numerous ‘lies’ as convention attendees booed at references to the three-time Republican nominee.
‘Trump continues to lie about crime in America. Like everything else,’ Biden said. ‘On his watch the murder rate went up 30 percent – the biggest increase in history. … Now the murder rate is falling faster than anytime in history.’
‘And crime will keep coming down when we put a prosecutor in the Oval Office – instead of a convicted felon,’ Biden said.
Biden also charged that Trump was lying about the border.
‘Here’s what he won’t tell you – Trump killed the strongest bipartisan border deal in the history of the United States,’ the president said.
MAGA aligned Republicans rejected a border deal in February, despite Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell backing it, due to Trump’s influence.
Since then, the Republican nominee has hammered Biden for having an ‘open’ border and will take a trip to a border town during the DNC this week.
‘I never thought I’d stand before a crowd of Democrats and refer to a president as a liar so many times,’ Biden also commented. ‘I’m not trying to be funny,’ he added. ‘It’s sad.’
Biden daintily waded into his own party’s drama.
He talked about how he and Harris were working toward completing a ceasefire-for-hostages deal, which could help bring to an end the war in Gaza.
As some pro-Palestinian Democrats turned their backs to Biden in silent protest in the room, the president threw a bone to demonstrators – who took over Chicago’s streets ahead of the DNC.
‘Those protesters out on the street have a point a lot of innocent people are being killed,’ Biden said. ‘On both sides,’ he then added.
Family members of President Joe Biden on hand Monday night included Finnegan Biden (bottom left) Hunter Biden’s wife Melissa Cohen (bottom right), Naomi Biden (top left) and her husband Peter Neal (top right)
Natalie Biden (left), one of the president’s grandchildren, is seated next to her brother Hunter and looks back at her cousin Maisy Biden and baby Beau
From left: Natalie Biden, Finnegan Biden, Melissa Cohen and Maisy Biden stand up and applaud ahead of President Joe Biden’s appearance Monday night at the Democratic National Convention
Ahead of the president’s appearances, his family members filed into a special box along the side of the convention hall.
Grandchildren Naomi, Finnegan, Maisy, Natalie, little Hunter and baby Beau were on hand, alongside Hunter Biden’s wife Melissa Cohen, Naomi’s husband Peter Neal and Ashley Biden’s husband Howard Krein.
Hunter remained out of sight until the president wrapped up his remarks, but then led the Biden clan onstage.
First daughter Ashley Biden introduced her father, calling him ‘the O.G. girl dad.’
Jill Biden said she watched her husband Joe ‘dig deep into his soul’ to decide not to run for re-election in an emotional speech before his farewell address at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night
‘With faith and conviction, Joe knows that our nation’s strength doesn’t come from intimidation or cruelty,’ Jill Biden said of her husband
She also took a swipe at Donald Trump in front of her grandchildren and the roaring crowd at the United Center in Chicago
‘And he wasn’t just a girl dad. I could see that he valued and trusted women. How he listened to his mother. How he believed in his sister. And most of all, how he respected my mother’s career. Dad was always there doing everything he could to be a true partner to her,’ Ashley said.
‘Dad, you always tell us, but we don’t tell you enough, that you are the love of our lives and the life of our love,’ she added.
Jill Biden described how she watched Joe ‘dig deep into his soul’ as he made the historic decision not to run for re-election.
The first lady revealed the president’s struggle in an emotional speech before his farewell address.
Insiders close to the first lady have said she was ‘dismayed’ by the betrayal of Democrats who publicly called on the 81-year-old president not to seek re-election.
But she put on a brave face and looked to the future by enthusiastically endorsing Kamala Harris in her convention speech.
She also took a swipe at Donald Trump in front of her grandchildren and the roaring crowd at the United Center in Chicago.
As she left the stage she blew a kiss toward Harris, who was watching from her VIP box in the stands.
President Biden, in his remarks, paid tribute to his wife of almost 50 years, calling her the family’s ‘rock’ and leading the crowd in more applause for her.
‘I still get that boom boom boom,’ he said of her, tapping his heart.
The 81-year-old wiped away a tear as his daughter Ashley welcomed him on stage for a speech marking the closing months of his 53-year career in politics.
