Biden’s DNC speech delayed, pushed past prime-time coverage

The convention ran over an hour late, causing scheduling issues
Analysts debate wisdom of late timing for the president's remarks
The president will leave Chicago after he delivers his speech

Updated: Aug 19, 2024 / 11:11 PM CDT

(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.”

Convention officials told NewsNation in a statement that the delay was due to audience applause interrupting speakers.

“Because of the raucous applause interrupting speaker after speaker, we ultimately skipped elements of our program to ensure we could get to President Biden as quickly as possible so that he could speak directly to the American people. We are proud of the electric atmosphere in our convention hall and proud that our convention is showcasing the broad and diverse coalition behind the Harris-Walz ticket throughout the week on and off the stage.”
Convention official

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.