CHICAGO ― There was a lot of love for President Joe Biden when he walked on stage at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night.
Thousands upon thousands of people greeted him with signs that read, “We love Joe!” He had to wait several minutes before he could even start talking because people wouldn’t stop cheering for him. He flashed his trademark grin. He waved at a couple of people in the crowd. When he could finally speak, he delivered a pretty standard stump speech, ticking off his accomplishments as president and warning of the grave dangers of Donald Trump returning to the White House.
“Think of the message he sends around the world when he talks about America being a ‘failing nation,’” Biden fumed at one point. “He says we’re losing. He’s the loser! He’s dead wrong.”
But in other moments, the president also looked a little sad. So did people in the crowd.
Under normal circumstances, Biden would have spoken Thursday night at the convention, accepting his party‘s nomination for a second term. Instead, he is here kicking off the convention on day one, throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris to be the party’s nominee.
Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press
“Selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made before I became the nominee, and it was the best decision I made in my whole career,” Biden said. “She’s tough, she’s experienced and she has enormous integrity…. She will be a president we can all be proud of.”
“Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!” the crowd periodically shouted in unison.
“Thank you, Kamala,” Biden would respond.
It was the bittersweet moment of the convention that everyone had been bracing for: Biden running through his successes as president before passing the torch to Harris.
It hasn’t even been a month since he dropped his reelection bid. And he initially resisted…
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