At the start of the four-day US Democratic Party convention on Monday, President Joe Biden will give a farewell speech, symbolically passing the baton to presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The 81-year-old is expected to praise his vice president as the best choice to complete the work he started and “save” US democracy from Republican rival and former President Donald Trump. Biden and Harris are also expected to make a brief joint appearance.
Less than a month ago, Biden withdrew his candidacy for president. At the party convention, delegates are expected to celebrate him for his time in office. He felt “good, really good” about his speech, Biden said on Sunday. He spent the weekend at Camp David, the country residence of the US presidents near Washington, where he and advisors prepared for the speech.
The head of state should be aware that his legacy depends on Harris’ victory over Trump: If the Democrat loses to her Republican rival in the presidential election in November, many will criticize Biden for clinging to his candidacy for too long after his disastrous performance in a TV debate against Trump in June.
At the party convention, the head of state can nevertheless be sure of a warm reception from the Democrats: “I am nostalgic,” said LaurieBeth Hager of North Dakota on Sunday, praising Biden as a “great president.” “I will have tissues with me tomorrow, but I am also amazed at the courage, the political courage, that he needed to make this decision.”
The four-day meeting will take place under strict security, with 2,500 police officers on duty. The FBI, the Secret Service and the police have been planning the security cordons around the venue for a year.
Lucas Rothaar of the FBI warned of an “increased threat level” for the party convention. In July, Republican presidential candidate Trump was injured in an assassination attempt at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania. Pro-Palestinian activist groups are also planning large demonstrations on the sidelines of the party convention against US support for Israel in the conflict with the radical Islamic Palestinian movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The convention speakers will also include First Lady Jill Biden, vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, as well as former President Bill Clinton. Harris’ big speech will take place at the end of the convention on Thursday. Biden will no longer be there then, as he will travel to California for a six-day vacation immediately after his speech on Monday.
Harris, 59, has brought new momentum to the election campaign since Biden’s departure and has appealed to young, female and black voters. Trump, who previously seemed to be on course for victory, has since floundered and is struggling to adjust his campaign to his new rival. Instead, the 78-year-old has resorted to personal insults and meandering speeches. On Saturday, the Republican again denigrated Harris as a “communist” and a “madwoman.”
Harris indirectly attacked the Republican on Sunday. So-called leaders who have nothing else in mind than to tear others down are “cowards,” Harris said at a campaign event in Pennsylvania.
During the Democratic Party Convention, Trump will continue to travel around the country and will hold rallies in the particularly contested states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Michigan, among others.
