Joe Biden on Thursday accepted the Democratic party nomination for president with a promise to heal and unite the nation and “overcome this season of darkness in America”.
Biden directly criticised President Donald Trump on the pandemic and the economy, and said he is someone who “takes no responsibility, refuses to lead, blames others, cozies up to dictators, and fans the flames of hate and division”.
“This is a life-changing election that will determine America’s future for a very long time,” Biden said, adding, “character is on the ballot. Compassion is on the ballot. Decency, science, democracy.”
Biden accepted the party’s nomination in a speech from a hall in Wilmington, Delaware. He was joined by wife Jill Biden on the stage after he finished, and his running mate Kamala Harris and her spouse Doug Emhoff. They walked out into the parking lot outside for celebratory fireworks.
Biden had waited 32 years for this moment, having first run for the party nomination in 1987. He had dropped out then even before the primaries over plagiarism allegations. He tried again in 2008, but pulled out after a poor showing in the first of the nominating contests, the Iowa caucus.