An emotional Joe Biden teared up as he delivered a speech to his fans in Delaware. Biden left Washington D.C. after Donald Trump‘s inauguration the same way he did for decades, by an Amtrak train.
Once he arrived home, he was met by alumni from the University of Delaware, his alma mater, and people holding “Joe” signs. Members of the Delaware National Guard were also in attendance.
In his speech, Biden reminded everyone that they see him at home more often than they should, since he visited Delaware so often during his vice presidency.
“We own the finish line, we just have to stop and focus on what we are and who we are,” Biden told the crowd. “I have disagreements with the incoming administration, but folks, we got to give him a chance.”
In an interview with CNN before the inauguration, Biden said he has taken over 8,200 trips between Delaware and Washington, totaling 2 million miles on Amtrak.
“I have made over — they actually calculated it, the conductors — 8,200 round trips, over 2 million miles on Amtrak,” Biden told CNN. “Two hundred and fifty nine miles round trip a day, not everyday, but on average 217 days a year. This is my family and this is why I wanted to go home, the way I came.”
Biden served as Senator form Delaware from 1973 to 2009. He also served as President Barack Obama’s vice president for both terms, after running against him in 2008. One of Obama’s last actions in the White House was surprising Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest honor.
Biden thought about running for President in 2016, but decided not to after the death of his son, Beau Biden. In early December, he joked about running in 2020, but he later told The View that he will not run and wants to focus on curing cancer.
Here’s video of Biden getting on an Amtrak train back to Delaware.
