(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden’s highly anticipated speech at the Democratic National Convention was delayed, pushing past prime-time network coverage as the program ran more than an hour behind schedule.
The 81-year-old Biden was expected to receive a warm reception as he officially stepped aside for Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the party’s ticket. His speech was initially billed as the evening’s main event.
As the convention stretched past 11 p.m. EDT, political analysts debated the wisdom of scheduling the president’s remarks so late.
“It feels like a disservice. They should have had him on earlier,” said NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas, noting that Biden’s speech would likely be “the last big speech of his lifetime and his career.”
The speech marks the beginning of the end of a 53-year career that included four decades in the Senate, eight years as vice president and four years in the White House as commander-in-chief.
Biden ended the presidency of Republican Donald Trump in 2020 but withdrew from the rematch in July four years later after Democrats became convinced by Biden’s weak debate performance that the only way to prevent Trump from reentering the White House was for their president to step aside.
The president will leave Chicago after he delivers his speech, and he is staying largely out of the public eye during the Democrats’ official selection of their next leader.
NewsNation partner The Hill and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
