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This is an adapted excerpt from MSNBC’s Aug. 19 special coverage of the Democratic National Convention.
President Joe Biden’s appearance at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night was, in many ways, foreign content for those who have followed American politics.
Let’s be clear, Biden is a man with a formidable ego. He’s the president of the United States. He was a U.S. senator for more than three decades. He’s spent 50 years in public life. This is someone who occupies a room and someone who likes attention.
In Biden, you have someone whose last major political act was to get on stage and tell the American people to vote for someone else – to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.
But that’s also paired with Biden’s deep sense of service. That is what fundamentally contrasts him with Donald Trump, a person who has lived his entire life in service of ego and avoiding ego death. Trump is willing to do anything to preserve his ego, even if it means bringing down the constitutional republic rather than admitting he lost an election.
In Biden, you have someone whose last major political act was to get on stage and tell the American people to vote for someone else – to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. It’s something we’ve never seen before.
It’s incredible to watch in real time, to witness someone acting in service of something higher than themselves, in service of the Democratic Party, in service of the country and in service of American democracy.
Join Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow and many others on Saturday, Sept. 7, in Brooklyn, New York, for “MSNBC Live: Democracy 2024,” a first-of-its-kind live event. You’ll get to see your favorite hosts in person and hear thought-provoking conversations about what matters most in the final weeks of an unprecedented election cycle. Buy tickets here.
Allison Detzel contributed.
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