Biden, 81, mangles his words as his swan song convention speech is delayed until the dead of night: Joe passes the torch to Kamala with a tearful farewell and Hunter by his side
President Joe Biden mangled his words when his speech at the Democratic National Convention was delayed until late into the night.
Biden’s speech, which closed the first day of the four-day meeting in Chicago, didn’t start until 10:25 p.m. local time and ended after the clocks on the East Coast struck midnight.
The speech began in tears, with the president embracing his daughter Ashley, who had introduced him, and ended with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and a host of Biden’s family members, including his son Hunter, at his side.
During the nearly hour-long speech, the 81-year-old touted his record, lashed out at former President Donald Trump, mocked his own stutter and pledged to help Harris win the White House in November.
“I promise to be the best volunteer the Harris-Walz campaign has ever seen,” the president said.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were joined at the end of the president’s speech at the DNC by Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and Doug Emhoff, along with Hunter Biden and other Biden family members.
President Joe Biden embraces son Hunter Biden after speech Monday night at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago
President Joe Biden (R) wipes away a tear as he arrives in Chicago Monday night to deliver his swan song speech at the Democratic National Convention. He was introduced by his eldest daughter, Ashley Biden (L).
President Joe Biden (left) walks offstage with baby Beau (right) after his speech at the Democratic National Convention Monday night. He’s headed to California for the rest of the week
In typical Biden style, he distorted part of the speech when talking about abortion rights.
“Women don’t have electricity now… excuse me, not without suffrage, electoral… or political power,” he stammered, trying to reference the Supreme Court’s Dobbs case, which overturned Roe v. Wade.
As he mispronounced the words, he looked meaningful and laughed.
Later in the speech, he talked about his stuttering as a child and how he had persevered to become President of the United States.
“Nowhere else in the world could a child with a stutter and humble beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Delaware grow up to be someone who sits behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office,” he said. “That’s because America is and always has been a nation of opportunity. We must never lose that.”
President Joe Biden (right) embraced Vice President Kamala Harris (left) onstage at the Democratic National Convention after wrapping up his speech
President Joe Biden raises his hands with Vice President Kamala Harris as family members flood the stage after he finished his speech at the Democratic National Convention Monday night
He gave Harris his full support, and did so with humor.
Biden said choosing the U.S. senator from California as 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, saying he was not angry about having to give up his ambition for a second term.
“All this talk about how angry I am at all the people who told me to resign, that’s not true,” he said.
He noted that he had five months left in office.
“I still have a lot to do, and I intend to do it,” he said.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime. I love the job. But I love my country even more,” the president continued.
He stressed that this was the decisive factor when he made his shock decision on July 21 to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, endorsing Harris.
“I was too young to be in the Senate, because I was not yet 30, and too old to remain president,” he said.
He noted that he had made “many mistakes” in his career. “But I did my best for you,” he said. “For 50 years, like many of you, I have given my heart and soul to the nation.”
During the speech, he slapped Trump in the face.
“Donald Trump calls America a failed nation,” Biden noted. “He’s the loser. He’s dead wrong.”
“America is winning and the world is better off for it,” the president said.
He accused Trump of numerous “lies” as attendees at the party convention booed when reference was made to the three-time Republican presidential candidate.
“Trump continues to lie about crime in America. Like everything else,” Biden said. “Under his administration, the murder rate went up 30 percent — the largest increase in history. … Now the murder rate is falling faster than ever before.”
“And crime will continue to go down if we put a prosecutor in the White House — instead of a convicted felon,” Biden said.
Biden also accused Trump of lying about the border.
“He won’t tell you this: Trump stopped the strongest bipartisan border deal in the history of the United States,” the president said.
Republicans aligned with MAGA rejected a border deal in February despite support from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, citing Trump’s influence.
Since then, the Republican nominee has criticized Biden for his “open” border and will visit a border town during this week’s DNC.
“I never thought I would stand in front of a crowd of Democrats and call a president a liar so many times,” Biden also said. “I’m not trying to be funny,” he added. “It’s sad.”
Biden subtly inserted himself into his own party’s drama.
He told how he and Harris were working on a ceasefire for the hostages, which could end the war in Gaza.
As some pro-Palestinian Democrats quietly protested Biden, the president threw a bone to the protesters, who took to the streets of Chicago ahead of the DNC.
“Those protesters in the streets have a point, a lot of innocent people are being killed,” Biden said. “On both sides,” he added.
Family members of President Joe Biden in attendance 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, sits next to her brother Hunter and looks back at her niece Maisy Biden and baby Beau
From left: Natalie Biden, Finnegan Biden, Melissa Cohen and Maisy Biden stand and applaud ahead of President Joe Biden’s appearance Monday night at the Democratic National Convention
Before the president’s appearance, his family members gathered in a special box along the side of the Congress Hall.
Grandchildren Naomi, Finnegan, Maisy, Natalie, little Hunter and baby Beau were in attendance, along with 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 finished his speech, but then led the Biden clan onto the stage.
The eldest daughter, Ashley Biden, introduced her father, calling him “the OG girl dad.”
“And he wasn’t just a girl dad. I saw how 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 and did everything he could to be a true partner to her,” Ashley said.
“Dad, you always tell us, but we don’t tell you often enough, that you are the love of our life and the life of our love,” she added.