President Joe Biden closed up the first night of the Democratic National Convention with a speech that garnered thunderous applause from supporters at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, introduced him, and the audience applauded for several minutes before he began his speech. He defended the policies of his term in office and praised Vice President Kamala Harris while reserving some time to go on the attack against former President Donald Trump.

'Think of the message Trump sends around the world when he talks about America being a failing nation.'

“She’ll be a president respected by world leaders, because she already is. She’ll be a president we can all be proud of, and she will be a historic president who puts her stamp on America’s future,” said Biden of Harris.

"Donald Trump calls America a failing nation!" said Biden later in the speech. "Think of the message Trump sends around the world when he talks about America being a failing nation. He says we're losing. He's the loser! He's dead wrong!"

Others spoke ahead of Biden to warm the audience up. Socialist Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York offered her own motto for the campaign, saying, "Kamala is for you."

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton praised Harris while also applauding Biden for stepping down from his re-election campaign. Even presidential candidate Kamala Harris offered a brief speech early in the evening. She ended her remarks with the motto, "When we fight, we win."

Biden's speech began later than was scheduled, prompting many on social media to ponder whether Democrats orchestrated it to knock his speech out of prime-time television.

Harris sat in the audience with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, her vice presidential candidate, as Biden spoke. At one point he cracked a joke meant to flatter the both of them.

"Like many of our best presidents, she was also vice president," he said with a smile. "That was a joke!"

He also tried to reassure Democrats that the decision to step down from the campaign was not one imposed upon him.

"I love the job, but I love my country more," he said to loud applause.

Also on the first day of the Democratic convention, anti-Israel protesters broke down a security barrier and rushed toward the convention area. Police were able to detain them and arrest at least four of the protesters.

The convention is running for three more days and will culminate with Harris accepting the nomination for the Democratic presidential ticket on Thursday evening.

Here's coverage of the first night of the convention:

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