‘America, I gave my best for you’: Biden addresses DNC

CHICAGO — President Joe Biden took center stage to rapturous applause at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night to make the case why his second-in-command, Vice President Kamala Harris, should be the next president.

“Are you ready to vote for freedom? Are you ready to vote for democracy and for America?” he asked an energetic crowd. “Let me ask you, are you ready to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz?”

The president received a warm welcome to the stage, with the thousands of conventiongoers giving a minutes-long standing ovation and chanting, “We love Joe,” and “Thank you, Joe.” When he walked on stage after an introduction from his daughter, Ashley Biden, he hugged her and pulled out a tissue.

“I love you all,” Biden said to the crowd.

The president’s speech came less than a month after he announced he was dropping from the race in the face of a politically disastrous debate performance and fears of a Democratic loss in November and endorsed Harris as his replacement. Since then, the energy of the Democratic Party did a full 180-degree turn, with many Democrats expressing renewed excitement for their party’s ticket of Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Thousands of conventiongoers from across the country gathered at United Center to hear from top Democratic leaders, including Harris, who made a surprise appearance early in the Monday night programming, setting the tone of the convention.

“This is going to be a great week, and I want to kick us off by celebrating our incredible president, Joe Biden,” Harris said. “Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation and for all that you will continue to do.”

Passing the torch

In a one-hour speech, Biden described how he was prompted to run for president when white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

“I ran with a deep conviction in America,” he said. “I know and believe in an America where honesty, dignity, decency still matter. An America where everyone has a fair shot, and hate has no safe harbor.”

He listed what he and Harris got done together, from passing the bipartisan infrastructure law that invested funds into transportation projects, to lowering the cost of senior’s health care costs by capping prescriptions at $2,000 and to passing the PACT Act that helped veterans exposed to toxic substances. He said he is the most pro-union president in history and described his efforts to build out the middle class.

He said he and his administration are working “around the clock” to bring an end to the Israel-Hamas war and pledged to deliver a cease-fire in Gaza. Protesters have flocked to the area of the convention, decrying the country’s sale of weapons to Israel.

Biden said he is honored to serve as president.

“I love the job, but I love my country more,” he said.

Harris is the one who can continue the work, Biden said. He described Harris’ economic plan that she released this week and said she’ll be respected by world leaders and will be an “historic president who puts her stamp on America’s future.”

“Join me,” he told the audience. “I promise I’ll be the best volunteer Harris and Walz have ever seen.” He ended his speech saying that nowhere else in the world could a “kid with a stutter” grow up to sit as president in the Oval Office.

“America, America. I gave my best for you,” he said. “Remember who we are. We are the United States of America, and there is nothing we can’t do when we do it together.”

‘A really historical moment’

Daniel Corona, first vice chair of the Nevada State Democratic Party, said the convention feels like a music festival or concert. The mood matches the excitement the party has for Harris, he said. Throughout the night, an energized crowd chanted “we’re not going back” and “keep going.” Some attendees wore green “brat” Kamala buttons, pride pins and light-up cowboy hats.

Biden has been a tremendous president, Corona said, and he thinks Biden will go down as one of the most consequential presidents in American history, especially for a one-term president. But he hasn’t excited the base the way Harris has, Corona said.

“I don’t think it would be the level of excitement that we’re seeing here,” he said. “I don’t think that the lines for the merch store would be as long as they’ve been. Kamala Harris has kind of breathed new air into the party.”

“This is a really historical moment,” said Erica Roth, a Reno resident who is running for Assembly District 24.

Ever since the top of the ticket changed and Harris stepped forward, “the energy of the party has completely shifted, and I think that that’s really reflected here tonight,” Roth said.

The first night of the four-day convention served as a celebration of the president, with speakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear saluting Biden for his years of service.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also spoke Monday night, receiving uproarious applause from the crowd. Clinton highlighted women breaking barriers in the political space, including Shirley Chisholm — a Black congresswoman who ran for president in 1972 — and Geraldine Ferraro — the first woman nominated for vice president in 1984. Millions marched and many ran for office, Clinton said.

“Well, my friends, the future is here,” Clinton said, receiving loud cheers. “I wish my mother and Kamala’s mother could see us. They would say, ‘keep going.’”

Party messaging

Throughout the night, Democrats lambasted the controversial Project 2025 — which Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump has distanced himself from — and reminded supporters how things were in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic under Trump, claiming he downplayed the virus while people were afraid.

The DNC highlighted Trump’s felony record and his attempts to overturn the 2020 election in a video, framing a vote for Harris as a “vote for justice.”

They also made abortion — a winning topic for them in 2022 following the overturning of Roe v. Wade — a feature of the convention programming, with several speakers sharing their pregnancy stories and how their health was put at risk in states with abortion restrictions.

Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin spoke at counterprogramming from the Trump-Vance campaign in the Trump Tower in Chicago. The two highlighted rising costs under the Biden-Harris administration and featured posters of different groceries depicting how much the prices have increased since Harris took office.

Rebutting Democrats’ claims of the dangerous Project 2025, the Trump- Vance campaign emphasized what it believes is an extremely liberal platform that it referred to as “Kamala’s Project 2025,” saying she supported the “Green New Scam,” giving undocumented immigrants free health insurance and closing immigration detention centers.

“Americans across the country know that Joe Biden will go down in history as the worst president our country has ever had, thanks to his radical policies and his corrupt and compromised record,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement Monday.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.