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Kamala Harris took the stage on the first day of the Democratic convention on Monday to praise Joe Biden for his “lifetime of service”, kicking off a night where the outgoing president was due to symbolically pass the torch to his vice-president.
Harris’s unscheduled appearance on the stage at Chicago’s United Center came ahead of a much-anticipated address from Biden, whose keynote was expected to mark the beginning of the end of his half-century in politics.
“I want to kick us off by celebrating our incredible president, Joe Biden,” Harris said on Monday night to deafening cheers. “Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation.”
The Chicago convention presents a delicate balancing act for the 81-year-old president, who reluctantly stepped aside last month amid persistent concerns from within his own party about his age and fitness for office.
The convention also comes at a critical time for the Democratic party, as it looks to unite behind Harris and quell party bitterness over Biden’s fate and infighting over White House policies in the Middle East.
Democrats gathered against a backdrop of protests in Chicago against Biden’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas, with thousands of police deployed across the city and a wide security cordon erected around the conference venue.
Just four weeks ago, Biden was expected to take the stage at the Democratic National Convention to accept his party’s nomination for president for a second time. Instead, Biden will fly out of Chicago late Monday and skip the rest of the four-day gathering, which will culminate on Thursday with Harris accepting the party’s nomination for the White House.
During a walk-through of the convention arena earlier on Monday, when Biden was asked whether his appearance would be a “bittersweet moment”, the president replied: “memorable”.
Other big-name speakers later in the week are set to include former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and Harris’s running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre nevertheless insisted on Monday that the president was looking “forward to addressing his party and the nation”, and described it as a “fulfilling moment for him”.
Biden will speak in the final slot on Monday night. He is expected to be introduced by his adult daughter, Ashley Biden. The president’s wife, Jill Biden, is also expected to address the convention on Monday night.
In her own speech to the convention on Monday night, Hillary Clinton, the former US secretary of state and the party’s 2016 presidential candidate, called Biden “democracy’s champion, at home and abroad.”
But Clinton also used her address to mark the rise of women in American politics, praising Harris for having the “character, experience and vision” to break the “highest, hardest glass ceiling” by becoming the first female US president.
“This is our time,” Clinton said, after recalling her own nomination in 2016 and the candidacy of Geraldine Ferraro, who was the party’s first woman vice-presidential candidate in 1984. “This is when we stand up. This is when we break through.”
She added: “And yes, she will restore abortion rights nationwide,” to one of the largest cheers of the night.
On the convention floor, delegates were quick to both praise Biden and admit Harris’s candidacy had injected new energy into the race.
“It was painful for me to watch him struggle, because I grew up with Joe Biden,” said Steven Kelley, a delegate from Pennsylvania. “I will always stand by Joe, but the decision that he made shows how great a human being he is.”
“It has nothing to do with whether he’s qualified to be president,” said Sean Casten, a Democratic congressman from Illinois. “It’s hard to argue with what’s happened in the subsequent four weeks: the energy level, the passion . . . that enthusiasm.”
Tom Daschle, the former Democratic Senate minority leader, said he felt “more optimistic” with Harris at the top of the ticket.
“I thought we could win before,” Daschle added. “Now I know we can win.”
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