After transferring the baton to Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential contender, US President Joe Biden received a standing ovation on Monday night at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
“I love you,” Biden said to deafening cheers after being introduced by his daughter Ashley for his farewell speech, less than a month after dropping out of the White House race against Donald Trump.
Biden took to the stage to chants of “We love you Joe” from the same party which had pushed him out over concerns about his age, in one of the biggest political shocks in US political history.
“We both know we have more to do, but we’re moving in the right direction,” he said, referring to himself and the 59-year-old Harris, who, in the space of a few breathtaking weeks, has turned the presidential race upside down.
The Democratic Party has rapidly gained momentum under the first female Black and South Asian vice president in American history, and she has quickly erased Republican challenger Donald Trump’s advantage in the polls.
Even going against precedent to speak on the first night of the convention in support of her employer, she showered Biden with effusive tributes at what must be one of the worst times in his career.
