Joe Biden, the outgoing US President, made a powerful yet memorable speech at Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, where he arrived with First Lady Jill Biden to back Democratic party’s presidential candidate Kamala Harris ahead of the November elections.
The US President and FLOTUS were also accompanied by their son and daughter, Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden. This was surely a key moment in Biden’s political history as his four-year term is nearing an end. While Biden faced a lot of criticism over his debacle performance during a debate with Republican rival Donald Trump, he was overwhelmed with the warmth and love he received at the DNC. He even shared a heart-touching moment with his daughter Ashley who introduced him to the stage. He was even seen wiping his tears with handkerchief. Here are the key highlights:
Biden addresses Americans as he passes torch to Harris
Addressing the audience, Biden asserted that he devoted his life to serving the US, and had never felt more hopeful about the country’s future.
Admitting that he made several mistakes in her political career, he told Americans that he gave his best for 50 years with his “heart and soul”.
“Like many of you, I gave my heart and soul to our nation, and I’ve been blessed a million times in return in the support of the American people,” the President noted.
He went on to mention that he was “too young” to be in the Senate as he wasn’t even 30 years old and now “too old” to stay as president.
“But I hope you know how grateful I am to all of you. I can honestly say, and I mean this in the bottom, giving my word as a Biden, I can honestly say I’m more optimistic about the future than I was when I was elected as a 29-year-old United States senator.”
Biden calls picking Harris as his VP the ‘best decision’ of his career
Making Kamala Harris his vice presidential nominee, according to Biden, was the “best decision” he has made in his more than five decades in politics.
“Selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made … when I became our nominee, and it was the best decision I made my whole career,” the POTUS said.
Biden told Democrats that Harris and her running mate Tim Walz would continue to his work on his objectives including voting rights protection, access to abortion, and taxing the superrich.
Later, Harris gave a hug to Biden after the mentioned that he would be “the best volunteer” for her campaign against Republican opponent Donald Trump.
“I promise I’ll be the best volunteer Harris and Walz’s camp have ever seen,” the 81-year-old Commander-in-Chief declared as he concluded a powerful, nearly one-hour televised speech to party delegates in Chicago, during which he handed over the nomination torch to his VP.
Biden’s take on anti-Israel protestors
Biden showed his empathy for anti-Israel demonstrators by stating that they “have a point” and that he was actively pursuing a truce.
Stating that those demonstrators on the street do have a valid argument, he noted, “Those protesters out in the street, they have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides.”
Demonstrators had breached a barricade on the DNC’s outer perimeter, to voice their opposition to American backing for Israel.
“Now I’ll keep working to bring hostages home and end the war in Gaza and bring peace and security. The Middle East. As you know, I wrote a peace treaty for Gaza a few days ago. I put forward a proposal that brought us closer to doing that than we’ve done since October 7th,” he said.
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Biden says Democracy has prevailed under his admn, labels Trump as ‘loser’
Calling Biden a “loser” for characterising the US as a nation in decline, Biden said, “When he talks about America being a failing nation, he says, we’re losing. He’s the loser. He’s dead wrong.”
He mentioned the challenges he faced as the President, recalling the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol and COVID-19 outbreak.
Reiterating his anti-Trump remarks, he said, “You cannot say you love your country only when you win.”
Biden reminded the Democrats of everything that had happened in the three and a half years since he assumed office following the attack on January 6.
“With a grateful heart, I stand before you now on this August night to report that democracy has prevailed. Democracy has delivered, and now democracy must be preserved.”
When he told the crowd about his efforts and Harris to reduce prescription drug prices, the crowd chanted, ““thank you Joe!”
“Thank you Kamala,” Biden replied.
Biden hailed for his powerful speech
Biden was lauded for delivering a powerful speech at the DNC as passed the torch to Harris.
One of the X users wrote: “I’ve never seen President Biden THIS angry before, gritting his teeth and shaking with rage as he recalls trump’s “suckers and losers.”