Joe Biden Delivers Lengthy Farewell at Convention: ‘America, I Gave My Best to You’
variety.comGene Maddaus Senior Media Writer President Biden defended his record and promised to be the “best volunteer” for Kamala Harris in a 49-minute speech on Monday night, going well past midnight on the East Coast.
The convention was running more than an hour late by the time the president took the stage at the United Center in Chicago. A performance from James Taylor, slotted just before the introduction from Biden’s daughter, had to be cut for time.
The president got a four-minute ovation from the crowd, who chanted “Thank you, Joe!” at various points in the speech. The speech was also briefly interrupted at one point by pro-Palestinian protesters who unfurled a banner reading “Stop Arming Israel.” The speech was billed as a moment for Biden to pass the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, who sat with her running mate, Tim Walz, in the stands, and came on stage afterward with her husband, Doug Emhoff, to embrace the president. “I love the job, but I love my country more,” Biden said.
Biden stumbled over his words at a few points, and made a few self-deprecating references to his age. “I know more foreign leaders by their first names and know them better than anyone alive — just because I’m so damn old,” he said.
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