In a night filled with moving speeches and inspirational stories, one young boy’s address to the nation truly stood out. It was a message of unity and gratitude from 13-year-old Brayden Harrington.
“Without Joe Biden, I wouldn’t be talking to you today,” Harrington said in a video that aired during the virtual convention. “A few months ago, I met him in New Hampshire. He told me we were members of the same club.”
As Harrington explained, they both stutter, and they both are working to move past the obstacle.
“It’s really amazing to see that someone like me became vice president,” Harrington explained. “He told me about a book of poems by Yeats he would read out loud to practice. He showed me how he marks his addresses to make them easier to say out loud.”
Harrington said he did “the same thing today” to be able to deliver his powerful testimonial.
“I’m just a regular kid, and in a short amount of time, Joe Biden made me feel more confident about something that’s bothered me my whole life. Joe Biden cared. Imagine what he could do for all of us,” Harrington continued. “Kids like me are counting on you to elect someone we can all look up to. Someone who cares. Someone who will make our country and the world feel better.”
“I’m just a regular kid, and in a short amount of time, Joe Biden made me more confident about something that’s bothered me my whole life. Joe Biden cared.”
– Brayden Harrington#DemConventionpic.twitter.com/KoPprXXwCQ
— 2020 #DemConvention ?? (@DemConvention) August 21, 2020
Biden has been open in the past about his challenges with stuttering, and how he’s worked hard to overcome the speech issue in the past.
Harrington’s courage in delivering such a public address to support Biden was met with a lot of love on Twitter from those who were moved by his story.
One of my kids is a stutterer. No matter how much courage you think Brayden Harrington’s talk just now took, believe me, it’s way more. God bless that kid, and God bless Joe Biden for giving him hope, and a chance to speak. [Retweeted this to fix typo]
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) August 21, 2020
Brayden Harrington, the 13-year-old New Hampshire boy with a stutter, is just remarkable. What courage and guts it took him to do this. Good luck, Brayden. You will go far.
— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) August 21, 2020
This made me cry. Brayden Harrington was great! #DemConventionhttps://t.co/kbYaUDSzLq
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) August 21, 2020
Wow! What a story! #BraydenHarrington! BRAVO!
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) August 21, 2020
Brayden Harrington is wonderful. I’m glad that voices like his are heard.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 21, 2020
I hope everybody recognizes the guts it took for Brayden Harrington to get up there tonight. Astounding.
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) August 21, 2020
Thank you, @JoeBiden, for giving voice to Brayden Harrington, the young man who stutters. #DemConvention
— Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II (@RevDrBarber) August 21, 2020
Brayden Harrington, the 13-year-old boy from New Hampshire with a stutter, was quite amazing. He was so brave and delivered that speech like a champ.
More on him:https://t.co/uiOLfNaJ2z
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) August 21, 2020
Brayden Harrington, boy who has a stutter, speaks courageously at DNC about his interaction with Biden: “Joe Biden cared.”
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 21, 2020
Brayden Harrington showed the nation incredible courage and strength tonight. Go, Brayden! https://t.co/eBiebJ69mn
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) August 21, 2020
Talked to Brayden Harrington’s father shortly after he met Biden. “He was basically showing him a strategy. He normalized it,” Owen Harrington said. “That meant a lot for both of us.”https://t.co/u4zmmJjTZc
— Eric Bradner (@ericbradner) August 21, 2020
Election Day is Nov. 3, 2020 — head over to Vote.org to register to vote and to get all the latest information.
