On Monday at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) president Joe Biden gave a final farewell speech in line with his decision to bow out of the presidential race. He praised Kamala Harris, his deputy for being an excellent partner in governing the United States.
Biden said choosing Harris as his running mate in 2020 was “the best decision I made my whole career.”
“She’ll be a president our children can look up to. She’d be a president respected by world leaders, because she already is. She’d be a president we can all be proud of. And she’d be a historic president who puts her stamp on America’s future,” Biden said.
The CNN reported that his passing of the torch demonstrated the shift for Democrats. The party, which was deeply fractured just last month as pressure mounted on Biden to exit the race, was united Monday night behind Harris – and against her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.
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Biden in his own speech, which only began after a four-minute ovation, delivered a spirited message of support for Harris and running mate Walz, before dedicating his remarks to familiar yet scathing criticism of Trump and a detailed recollection of his administration’s legislative achievements.
He began by recalling the angst that gripped the country in 2020, as he campaigned during a global pandemic and national racial reckoning.
He then began a valedictory wave, weaving in jabs at Trump and, in true Biden fashion, an assortment of aphorisms about the value of good government and the scourge of greed, guns, disease and authoritarianism.
“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,” Biden said. “When I say we, I mean Kamala and me.”
And when the president flagged, or stumbled over a phrase, the audience willed him through. The anxiety and gripes of the spring and early summer, in the wake of his ultimately campaign-dooming debate with Trump, were gone. Democrats once again had a chance to enjoy Joe being Joe.
“I love my job,” Biden said at one point, “but I love my country more.” It was the closest he came to explaining why he chose, in the end, to give up his own campaign.
