President Biden spoke at the Democratic Convention on Monday night to support Vice President Harris and to convince the public that he stepped down from the Presidential race of his own accord.
“All this talk of how I’m angry that all of those people said I should step down. That’s not true,” he said. “I love my country more and we need to preserve our Democracy. We need you to vote. We need to keep the Senate. We need you to win back the House of Representatives and above all, we need you to beat Donald Trump and elect Kamala and Tim!”
The crowd repeatedly chanted “Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!”
They were not thanking him for his service. They were thanking him for stepping down. It was the like a scene from Death of a Salesman and it was downright sad.
The First Lady Jill Biden said in her speech that she’d watched her husband “dig deep” and decide not to run but they did not share the reasons with us on Monday night. They delivered the rally cry for Harris that was required of them with knives in their back and smiles on their faces. It was tough to watch.
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said in her coverage that no one could or did force him to step down but his actions were a “once in a lifetime sacrifice” for the “good of the country.”
