The Slatest

Joe Biden Brings House Down at DNC With Raging Fireball of a Speech Highlighted by Use of Word “Malarkey”

100 percent uncut Biden.

Screen shot/C-SPAN

Joe Biden! Thanks to some blend of semi-ironic internet appreciation and his own emotional and pugnacious commitment to the goals of the Obama administration, Vice President Biden has become a liberal Democratic icon despite the presence of a few considerably non-liberal positions in his past. And Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Uncle Joe was in top form, delivering an old-fashioned humdinger of an address that got especially good about halfway through, building from a quiet observation about Donald Trump’s “You’re fired!” catchphrase into the most electifying use of the word malarkey in history into a halftime-speech-level riff about American potential. Here are those fiery seven minutes (the whole speech is at the end of this post):

An excerpt:

That is Hillary Clinton’s life story. Not just who she is, it is her life story. She is always there.

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s say the obvious, that is not Donald Trump’s story. Just listen to me a second without booing or cheering. His cynicism and undoubtedly his lack of empathy and compassion can be summed up in that phrase he is most proud of making famous: “You’re fired.” I’m not joking. Think about that. Think about that. Think about everything you learned as a child. No matter where you were raised, how can there be pleasure in saying, “You’re fired?”

He is trying to tell us he cares about the middle class. Give me a break. That is a bunch of malarkey.

More:

Folks, whatever doubts, I mean what I say. But sometimes I say all that I mean. Let me tell you what I literally tell every leader I’ve met with—and I’ve met them all. It’s never, never, never been a good bet to bet against America.

We have the finest fighting force in the world. Not only do we have the largest economy in the world, we have the strongest economy in the world. We have the most productive workers in the world. And given a fair shot, given a fair chance, Americans have never, ever, ever, ever, ever let the country down. Never!

Closed Biden: “We are America, second to none, and we own the finish line! Don’t forget it!”

Hell yeah! I’m going to go lift a 1960s muscle car over my head. USA!

Read more Slate coverage of the 2016 campaign.