An emotional Joe Biden received huge applause as he delivered his farewell speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday after Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance to thank him for being an “incredible” president.
“I love you,” the 81-year-old president told a tearful crowd as it erupted in deafening cheers, less than a month after he dropped out of the White House race against Donald Trump and handed the reins to his vice president.
Biden took the stage to chants of “We love you Joe” from the same party that had ousted him over concerns about his age, in one of the biggest political upsets in American political history.
“We both know we have more work to do, but we’re moving in the right direction,” he said, referring to himself and Harris, 59. Harris has completely turned the presidential race around in a matter of weeks.
America’s first female, black and South Asian vice president has breathed new life into the Democratic Party and eroded Republican rival Donald Trump’s lead in the polls.
He paid heartfelt tribute to Biden at one of the most difficult moments of his career, even breaking with tradition to deliver a speech praising his boss on the first night of the convention.
“I want to start this by celebrating our incredible president, Joe Biden,” said Harris, who wore a brown suit and took the stage to Beyoncé’s song “Freedom.”
“We will be forever grateful to you.”
As he has often been throughout his five-decade-long political career, Biden was accompanied by family, introduced by his wife, Jill Biden, and their daughter, Ashley.
“Joe and I have been together for almost 50 years. And still, there are moments when I fall in love with him all over again,” the first lady said.
‘Something is happening’
Democrats are in a jubilant mood in Chicago, hoping for a win in November that seemed unthinkable after Biden’s disastrous debate against Trump just a few weeks ago.
But the first night of the convention on Monday was emotional on many levels, and for several key players.
Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in her 2016 bid to become America’s first female president, endorsed Harris for finally breaking the glass ceiling.
“Something is happening in America, you can feel it — something we have worked for and dreamed about for a long time,” the former secretary of state and first lady said.
The crowd also chanted “put her in jail” as they recalled Trump’s recent conviction for allegedly raising money to silence a porn star – ironic after Trump had used similar slogans to send Clinton to jail over the deleted email controversy.
Harris will formally accept the party’s nomination on Thursday, the final day of voting in what will be her biggest chance yet to define her candidacy in front of millions of American voters.
Her star performance will cap off a week that has seen some of the biggest names from the party’s past endorse her as the party’s future, with former President Barack Obama speaking on Tuesday, and former President Bill Clinton introducing Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz, on Wednesday.
‘Madness’
As for Biden, he has suddenly become the warm-up event rather than the convention’s keynote speaker, and he is reportedly still frustrated by the way he was sidelined even though he thought he could still beat Trump.
But he has stressed that he is satisfied with his decision.
Earlier, when asked by reporters if he was ready to hand over the reins to Harris, Biden said, “I’m ready.”
Earlier, the opening of the convention was overshadowed by protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, underscoring the potential for Democrats to lose votes among left-wingers and Arab Americans.
A group of protesters broke through the conference’s outer security fence, breaking away from a larger protest involving thousands of people.
Police carrying blue helmets, shields and black batons prevented them from entering the inner circle.
Meanwhile, Trump has been left confused by the sudden change at the top of the Democratic ticket.
While Democrats are in Chicago, Republicans will be traveling across the country all week.
On Monday in battleground Pennsylvania, he highlighted Harris’ “craziness” and said she “has no idea what she’s doing on the economy.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
