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.
“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 stepping aside after his disastrous debate performance against Trump in late June. But he never did recover after that debate. And as he tanked in the polls, donor money dried up and voter enthusiasm plummeted, Biden finally gave in to the Democratic pressure campaign aimed at nudging him out and clearing the path for Harris to take the reins.
If the president does harbor ill will toward those Democrats, it wasn’t obvious at all on Monday night. He enthusiastically threw his support behind Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, to build on the work he’s done and said he’s still focused on things he wants to do as president.
“Folks, I’ve got five months left in my presidency, and I’ve got a lot to do,” he said to cheers. “It’s been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president. I love my job, but I love my country more.”
“All this talk about how I’m angry at those people who said I should step down, it’s not true,” he added.
House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is widely seen as a driving force in the behind-the-scenes effort to push Biden out of the race. She has repeatedly denied she led any kind of pressure campaign and insisted that he made his own decision.
But there’s clearly some tension between the two. As of a week and a half ago, at least, they hadn’t spoken since Biden pulled out of the race. And in a sit-down interview with reporters earlier this month, Pelosi appeared to be grappling with her role in Biden’s decision.
“At some point, I will come to terms with … my own role in this,” Pelosi said in the interview. She also said she “loves” Biden and prays for him.
On Monday night, as Biden ticked off his accomplishments as president, the cameras zoomed in on Pelosi in the crowd at one point. She was waving a “We love Joe” sign and was misty-eyed.
But even as people’s emotions were scattered, Biden made it clear he’s focused on the same thing that Pelosi has said is her priority: defeating Trump.
“We saved democracy in 2020, and now let’s save it again in 2024,” the president told the crowd, some of whom were openly crying by the end of his remarks.
“I promise I’ll be the best volunteer that Harris and Walz have ever seen,” he said.
When he was finished speaking, Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff came on stage and hugged him. Biden’s family soon joined them on stage. Everyone was all smiles with a little bit of tears, too.
