Biden passed the baton to Harris: the Democratic Party convention opened in Chicago
The Democratic party convention kicked off in Chicago, one of the key campaign events where candidates officially receive their party’s nomination. On Monday night, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. First Lady Jill Biden and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among others, took the stage in Chicago.
At one point, Vice President Kamala Harris suddenly appeared on stage to welcome delegates and guests to the event. Her keynote speech is scheduled for Thursday, when she will accept the party nomination. However, the final and main speaker on the first day of the convention was incumbent President Joe Biden.
The 46th president of the United States was greeted by the hall with a chant of “Thank you, Joe!” and a four-minute ovation. “America, I love you,” Biden said in response, followed by an emotional speech by the White House chief of staff about his legacy as president and his support for Kamala Harris’ candidacy following Biden’s own decision to withdraw from the race.
“Are you ready to vote for freedom? Are you ready to vote for democracy and America?”, Biden said at the beginning of his speech, and then repeatedly criticized his predecessor and Republican nominee Donald Trump. According to the Associated Press, the president’s speech was “more reminiscent of Biden winning in 2020” than his performance at an anti-Trump debate in June, which sparked a wave of disappointment and led to the eventual cancelation of his re-election campaign.
Biden, in his speech, repeated the 2020 talking point that Democrats are “fighting a battle for the very soul of America,” and insisted that Harris and her vice presidential candidate partner Tim Walz are best prepared to lead that battle.
“She [Harris] will be a president that our children can look up to,” the White House chief said. – She will be a president who will be respected by world leaders because she is already respected. She will be a president we can all be proud of, and she will be a historic president who will leave her mark on America’s future.”
The 46th president of the United States was greeted by the hall with a chant of “Thank you, Joe!” and a four-minute ovation. “America, I love you,” Biden said in response, followed by an emotional speech by the White House chief of staff about his legacy as president and his support for Kamala Harris’ candidacy following Biden’s own decision to withdraw from the race.
“Are you ready to vote for freedom? Are you ready to vote for democracy and America?”, Biden said at the beginning of his speech, and then repeatedly criticized his predecessor and Republican nominee Donald Trump. The president’s speech was “more reminiscent of Biden winning in 2020” than his performance in an anti-Trump debate in June, which sparked a wave of disappointment and led to the eventual cancelation of his re-election campaign.
Biden, in his speech, repeated the 2020 talking point that Democrats are “fighting a battle for the very soul of America,” and insisted that Harris and her vice presidential candidate partner Tim Walz are best prepared to lead that battle.
“Harris will be a president our children can look up to,” the White House chief said. – She will be a president who will be respected by world leaders because she is already respected. She will be a president we can all be proud of, and she will be a historic president who will leave her mark on America’s future.”
In their speeches, as well as in the speech of the head of the White House, the theme of family was paid much attention: for example, at the beginning of the speech Joe Biden quoted his father with the phrase “Family is the beginning, the middle and the end” and called on those gathered in the arena to reward his wife Jill with applause.
Hillary Clinton appeared on stage to the song Brave by Sara Barellis: the very song that preceded her appearance at the 2016 convention, when she herself received the Democratic nomination. Clinton said Kamala Harris could break “the highest and strongest glass ceiling” in the race for the presidency.
“Together, we have made many cracks in the highest and strongest glass ceiling,” said the former U.S. secretary of state and former New York state senator. – On the other side of that glass ceiling, Kamala Harris raises her hand and takes the oath of office as the 47th President of the United States. My friends, when a barrier falls for one of us, it clears the way for all of us.”
The topic of foreign policy was heard relatively little from the stage in Chicago. New York State Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mentioned Israel’s war against Hamas in her speech.
“Kamala Harris is working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and bring the hostages home,” Ocasio-Cortez said. The congresswoman, meanwhile, has previously criticized White House policy on the Gaza conflict and called for tighter restrictions on military aid to Israel.
Earlier, thousands of protesters expressing support for Palestinians in Gaza gathered in downtown Chicago, near the convention site. The march consisted of participants from more than 200 organizations from across the country, including supporters of movements ranging from the fight for abortion rights to racial justice. By noon, several thousand protesters had gathered for the rally, and the park was half full.
Participants are demanding changes to the Democratic Party’s policy platform and plan to push for an arms embargo on Israel.
This theme was also raised by Biden during his speech, emphasizing that “many innocent lives are being lost on both sides.” He reiterated his desire to get both sides of the conflict to agree to a cease-fire that also includes the release of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7.
As Democrats gather for a convention in Chicago, the Republican candidate continues daily rallies in swing states. On Monday, Donald Trump spoke at a factory in York, Pennsylvania, where he was again not without attacks on his election rival, calling Kamala Harris a “destroyer of the economy and the country.”
Donald Trump, for his part, accepted the nomination from the party back on July 18, just five days after an attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania. At the beginning of his speech at the Republican Party convention, the former president initially took an unusually conciliatory stance, saying he was “running for president for all of America, not half of America, because you can’t win an election for half of America.”
However, Trump soon turned to his usual attacks on the Biden administration, claiming, among other things, without evidence, that his criminal charges were politically motivated attempts to prevent his election.