Jill Biden said that Joe Biden would do for the country what he did for their family: 'bring us together and make us whole' becaus...
Jill Biden said that Joe Biden would do for the country what he did for their family: 'bring us together and make us whole' because his 'faith is unshakable' in the American people.
Biden delivered her virtual Democratic National Convention remarks Tuesday night from her empty old classroom at Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware.
She talked of her family's losses - Joe Biden's first wife and baby daughter and later their son Beau - and of the loss the U.S. is feeling from the coronavirus right now.
'This quiet is heavy,' she said, walking with the camera into the classroom that welcomed on the blackboard 'Dr. Jill Biden.'
'You can hear the anxiety that echoes down empty hallways. There's no scent of new notebooks or freshly waxed floors,' she said. 'The rooms are dark and the bright young faces that should fill them are confined to boxes on a computer screen.'
Jill Biden addressed Democrats Tuesday night from her former English classroom in Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware
Joe Biden (right) walked out and greeted his wife Jill Biden (left) after she concluded her remarks
Joe Biden (right) kisses his wife Jill Biden (left) on the head after she delivered her DNC remarks from her former Wilmington classroom
On her Instagram page Tuesday, Jill Biden previewed that she planned to deliver her DNC address from her former Wilmington, Delaware classroom
Jill Biden also shared some vintage yearbook photos from her time teaching English at Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware, where she'll address the nation Tuesday night
Jill Biden shared several vintage photos of herself as a young teacher, as she plans to discuss how the coronavirus crisis has impacted schooling in the U.S.
A candid photo shows a younger 'Mrs. Biden' helping a student with a book report. Jill Biden shared several photos from her time teaching at Brandywine in the run-up to her DNC speech Tuesday night
She said she was 'heartbroken by the magnitude of this loss.'
'And the indescribable sorrow that follows every lonely last breath when the ventilators turn off,' she said.
She never mentioned her husband's rival, President Donald Trump, once.
Instead she introduced herself to the nation by talking about how when she met Joe Biden, he was a U.S. senator and a widower and father of two young sons, Beau and Hunter.
'I never imagined, at the age of 26, I would be asking myself: how do you make a broken family whole? Still, Joe always told the boys, "Mommy sent Jill to us," - and how could I argue with her?' Biden recalled.
The former second lady said she figured out the answer - it was 'love' - and the same applied in a broader scope.
'How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding - and with small acts of kindness. With bravery. With unwavering faith,' she said.
She said her husband showed that strength in the days following Beau's 2015 death of cancer, as he was serving as vice president of the nation.
'Four days after Beau's funeral, I watched Joe shave and put on his suit. I saw him steel himself in the mirror - take a breath - put his shoulders back -and walk out into a world empty of our son,' she recalled.
'He went back to work. That’s just who he is,' she said.
'There are times when I couldn't imagine how he did it - how he put one foot in front of the other and kept going. But I've always understood why he did it... He does it for you,' she continued.
Biden called her husband's strength of will 'unstoppable.'
'And his faith is unshakable- because it's not in politicians or political parties—or even himself. It’s in the providence of God. His faith is in you—in us,' she said.
Jill Biden (left) stands next to her husband Joe Biden (right) on Super Tuesday at a campaign event in Los Angeles, California. At that event, Jill Biden jumped in front of a protester who had tried to ambush the former vice president
Then-Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden appear on stage at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia four years ago at the Democratic National Convention to nominate Hillary Clinton
Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill waves during a campaign rally at Eakins Oval in Philadelphia on May 18, 2019
As she concluded her remarks, she turned back to the imagery of the empty classroom.
'Yes, so many classrooms are quiet right now. The playgrounds are still. But if you listen closely, you can hear the sparks of change in the air,' she said.
She hinted that change could put her husband in the White House.
'We just need leadership worthy of our nation. Worthy of you. Honest leadership to bring us back together - to recover from this pandemic and prepare for whatever else is next,' Biden said.
As she concluded her remarks, Joe Biden - who just officially earned the Democratic nomination - came out to compliment and kiss his wife.
'I'm Jill Biden’s husband,' he said, a joke he often deployed on the campaign trail.
'You can see why she's the love of my life; the rock of our family. She never gives herself much credit,' the former vice president said, which cued a look from Jill Biden. 'But the truth is, she's the strongest person I know. She has a backbone like a ramrod. She loves fiercely, cares deeply.'
The Democratic nominee told Americans to 'think of your favorite educator who gave you the confidence to believe in yourself.'
'That's the kind of First Lady, lady, lady, lady Jill Biden will be,' Joe Biden said.
Before Jill Biden's schoolroom address, a video introduced her as an avid runner, a persistant student and teacher, and a grandmother who likes to engage in practical jokes.
It opened to The Beatles singing 'Good Day Sunshine,' as Jill Biden went out for a run - an activity Ashley Biden said her mother picked up during her prickly teenage years, but Joe Biden talked about with pride, as she had learned to run marathons.
'I have a rule that I never think of anything negative while I'm running,' Jill Biden says.
In the clip, the Bidens discuss their love story.
Joe Biden lost his first wife, Neilia, and daughter Naomi in a car accident after he had been elected to serve in the U.S. Senate in 1972.
Joe and Jill Biden said they met in 1975, after Joe saw a picture of her, calling her to ask her out. She said she blew off another date.
However, her ex-husband, Bill Stevenson, told DailyMail.com earlier this week that the Bidens' origin story is a sham and that he and his now ex-wife had worked on Biden's Senate campaign in 1972.
Stevenson accused Jill Biden of having an affair with Joe in 1974.
'One of her best friends told me she thought Joe and Jill were getting a little too close,' Stevenson said.
Her marriage to Stevenson ended in divorce in 1975.
Jill Biden married the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in 1977, and helped raise his surviving sons, Beau and Hunter, before giving birth to daughter, Ashley, in 1981.
'And then along came Ashley,' Joe Biden said.
'And our family was complete,' Jill Biden added.
The next generations of Bidens showcased Jill Biden's zany side.
'I'd say she's not your average grandmother. She's the grandmother who wakes you up at 5 a.m. on Christmas Eve to go Soul Cycling,' Naomi Biden shared. 'She's a prankster ... when she goes on a run she'll find like a dead snake, and she'll pick it up and put it in a bag and use it to scare someone.'
Hunter Biden, who hasn't been spotted alongside his family during the DNC festivities so far, was briefly featured in the highlight video, praising Jill Biden in the aftermath of his brother Beau's death.
Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine and China have been political fodder for Republicans throughout Joe Biden's run for the White House, with Trump's impeachment based on the president's quest to have the Ukrainian president announce an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden's relationships have also raised eyebrows as he dated Beau's widow Hallie after his brother's death, had a child out-of-wedlock with a former D.C.-based stripper and then quickly wed his latest wife, Melissa Cohen, who gave birth to a baby boy in April.
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