Biden speech delayed until after primetime

President Biden's speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago was delayed until after prime time on Monday night.

The 81-year-old president used a tissue to dry his tears after being introduced on stage by daughter Ashley Biden at about 10:25 p.m. CT.

He went on to deliver about an hour-long address that did not conclude until well after midnight on the East Coast.

"This is awful," a longtime Biden aide texted Axios. "He literally set up a campaign and handed it over to them – do they have to cut him out of prime time?"

In a statement to Fox News, convention officials attributed the delay to the energy of the audience throughout the night.

"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," convention officials said in a statement obtained by Axios. "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 stage."

After concluding his speech in the dead of night, Biden arrived on the West Coast after 5 a.m. ET. The president is now on vacation and is not expected to participate in the remaining three days of the convention, including when Vice President Harris is expected to formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday.

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