Brayden Harrington gave a powerful 2-minute speech during the final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Brayden delivered his speech online prior to former Vice President Joe Biden accepting the democratic presidential nomination.

Brayden began by introducing himself and stating, “Without Joe Biden I wouldn’t be talking to you today.” Brayden explained that he first met Joe, at a town hall campaign stop in Concord, New Hampshire earlier in the year. They quickly bonded since both struggled with stuttering. 

During that first meeting, Joe assured Brayden that stuttering “has nothing to do with your intelligence quotient…or intellectual makeup.” Joe explained that while he was growing up, his mother would tell him “Don’t let this define you.”

Twenty seconds into his speech, Brayden started to stutter. He remained calm and continued delivering his powerful message. He explained how Joe Biden had shared a few successful methods that he had used to overcome his own stutter. For example, when Joe wrote out his own speeches, he marked the places where he needed to take breaks between words, to make them easier to say aloud. Brayden then held up a copy of his own speech and said, “I did the same thing today, and now I’m here talking to you today about the future; about our future.”

Brayden added, “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.”

The Democratic National Convention shared Brayden’s speech on Twitter. By the following morning it had been viewed over three million times.
(New Hampshire: 2020)