Biden showed courtesy, Trump looked down on people: MP issues damning verdict

And Mr Ellwood said he encouraged Mr Biden to throw his hat into the ring for the Democratic Party’s nomination two years ago – although at that point it was far from clear that he would end up doing so. Mr Ellwood, the chairman of the influential defence select committee, first met Mr Biden when he was a guest at the Democratic Party convention in South Carolina in 2016, and was instantly impressed by what he saw.

Mr Ellwood, who, like Mr Biden’s late son Beau is a former soldier, told Express.co.uk: “That is where he really made his mark because he didn’t know who I was.

“I was in the Vice-President’s box and he came across and said hello and asked me questions.

“To me that is the mark of courtesy in any politician, to be interested in somebody you don’t know.

“I think it shows a great sincerity in terms of what you believe in.”

Two years later, Mr Ellwood met him again when Mr Biden spoke at a reception hosted by Mr Ellwood at Parliament to support veterans’ mental health, delivering what the Bournemouth East MP describes as a speech “the calibre of which I hadn’t witnessed in a while”.

Afterwards, he had suggested to the former Delaware senator he should consider another tilt at the White House.

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“And at that point he still had hopes that one of the younger generation would come through.”

Mr Ellwood added: “Whether in his mind, he had already made up his mind to stand I don’t know.

“But it was I think the right move for the Democrats to have somebody who was well-established that he could be trusted and be the antithesis of Donald Trump, to offer a more measured, civilised, predictable counterbalance to somebody who has obviously tested the norms of the White House.”

Mr Ellwood was altogether less impressed with Mr Trump when he met him at a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Portsmouth last year.

Trump: “I met him at VE Day. There was this sort of air of superiority about him.

“You felt the might of the Presidential power on his shoulders.

“He walked with an air of superiority and you felt that.

“I think he wanted you to feel less important – a very different approach.”

Mr Biden sealed victory in the marathon contest yesterday after major television networks including CNN called the state of Pennsylvania – where he was born and raised – in his favour.

As of Sunday evening, with 93 percent of the votes counted, Mr Biden has just over 74 million votes compared with Mr Trump’s 70.3million.

Mr Trump has so far refused to concede, making repeated unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.

source: express.co.uk