NATIONWIDE — One of the most powerful speeches from the 2020 Democratic National Convention came from a 13-year-old boy.
Brayden Harrington took the virtual stage from his home in New Hampshire on Thursday night to share a story about his personal interaction with Joe Biden. Harrington said when he met the former Vice President at a town hall earlier this year he learned the two share a unique connection: they both have battled a stutter.
"Without Joe Biden, I wouldn’t be talking to you today,” Brayden began his address. “About a few months ago I met him in New Hampshire. He told me that we were members of the same club: we stutter. It was really amazing to hear that someone like me became Vice President.”
While Brayden struggled through some of the words, he pushed through in order to deliver his important address. The 13-year-old went on to describe the emotional moment when he met the presidential candidate during a CNN town hall in February, where he learned of their shared struggle after a college student asked Biden about his stutter.
The politician found Brayden at the rope line following the event and offered him words of encouragement—at which point the young man was overcome with emotion, CNN reported.
So Biden invited Brayden and his family backstage to offer some sage advice.
“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. So I did the same thing today,” Brayden recounted, before showing a marked-up copy of his own speech.
“We all want the world to feel better. We need the world to feel better,” Brayden continued. “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.”
“Imagine what he could do for all of us. 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. We're counting on you to elect Joe Biden,” Harrington concluded.
Brayden’s inspiring speech quickly picked up traction on social media, with many commending the young man for his courage to speak in front of the entire country.
“Speaking is hard for me too, Brayden,” former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords wrote in a tweet. “But as you know, practice and purpose help. Thank you for your courage and for the great speech!”
Giffords, who also delivered an address on the final night of the convention, has struggled with her speech since she was shot in the head in January 2011.
Journalist Dan Rather also commended Brayden’s speech on Twitter, writing “Brayden Harrington, the 13-year-old boy with a stutter. Pure, unvarnished, courage.”
Even actress Bette Midler weighed in, wishing Brayden a huge “BRAVO” in a tweet.