Democrats give Biden an emotional farewell

CHICAGO, United States (AP/EFE).— President Joe Biden delivered his farewell speech to the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, after his decision to end his re-election bid revitalized his party when Vice President Kamala Harris assumed the presidential nomination.

After 52 years of rising to the pinnacle of party influence, Biden, 81, received a hero’s welcome for stepping aside to make way for Kamala, weeks after many Democrats pressured him to drop his re-election bid following his disastrous debate performance with former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump that sent his party into a panic.

A month after an unprecedented mid-campaign shift from Biden to Kamala, the opening night of the convention in Chicago was designed to be a passing of the baton from the incumbent president to his handpicked successor — albeit four years before he intended her to take over from him.

A visibly moved Biden was greeted by a standing ovation lasting more than four minutes and chants of “Thank you, Joe.”

“America, I love you,” he replied.

Biden began his speech by asking the audience if they were ready to vote for freedom and elect Kamala.

“There is no place in America for political violence, you cannot love your country only when you win,” Biden said, referring to Trump but not naming him.

Under Trump, he added, Nazis, white supremacists and even the KKK “became emboldened” because they saw him as an “ally.”

Under Trump, “they didn’t even bother to put their hoods on anymore,” Biden said.

He also said that Trump will “discover the power of women” in the November elections, in which he hopes the female vote will play “a central role in defending abortion.”

In a previous visit to the convention stage yesterday afternoon, Biden rejected Trump’s comments that he was the victim of an internal “coup” to abandon his candidacy and said that he is a politician “with questionable stability.”

Before the president left, Kamala made a surprise appearance at the convention and encouraged attendees to vote to defeat Trump.

“When we fight, we win,” he said to applause, after entering the stage unexpectedly to the tune of Beyoncé’s song “Freedom,” a piece that has become his unofficial campaign anthem.

The vice president took advantage of her speech to thank Bien for his political work and his “historic leadership.”

Also before Biden’s speech, it was the turn of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on stage, who encouraged Kamala Harris to break the glass ceiling, in an emotional speech where she included the current campaign in the history of the feminist struggle in the United States.

At a glance

Duration

The Democratic National Convention kicked off last night and will run through Thursday.

Democratic stronghold

The event is taking place in Chicago, chosen for being a Democratic stronghold within the so-called “blue wall,” a group of Midwestern states (Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota) that are generally won by that party.

Symbolic vote

Although Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are already officially the party’s nominees, the delegates will stage a symbolic vote today in which they will declare their support for the new electoral formula.

Obama and Clinton

According to the media, today is the turn of former President Barack Obama to speak at the event and tomorrow it will be Bill Clinton’s turn.

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