Who Is Jacquelyn Brittany? The Security Guard Was First To Nominate Joe Biden For President

Day two of the 2020 Democratic National Convention included the first official nomination of Joe Biden for president. However, the person delivering the nomination was not a well-known senator or former president, but a security guard named Jacquelyn Brittany.

That begs the question – who is Jacquelyn Brittany?

Brittany, 31, is a security guard for the New York Times who had a chance encounter with Biden while he was visiting the news outlet in December 2019. Biden’s visit was being filmed as part of the Times’ TV series “The Weekly” and the crew recorded the elevator encounter.

“I love you. I do. You're like my favorite,” Brittany told Biden. The two shared a picture and their exchange went viral shortly after it aired.

Biden brought up the exchange while campaigning in Iowa when asked if he was upset about the Times endorsing primary opponents Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

“I got something better,” Biden said. “I got to meet Jacquelyn.”

Brittany told the Washington Post in an interview Tuesday she did not realize the encounter was being filmed at the time. She recounted how excited she was to be escorting Biden through the building, where she has met many famous and powerful people.

“Once he came in, he was just genuinely, genuinely nice to people,” Brittany said. “We don’t get that from everybody. ... I kept thinking to myself, this was a person I want to lead the country.”

She said she started following Biden after Barack Obama named him as his running mate before the 2008 election. She said learning more about his history helped her relate to him more, pointing to how he’s been able to endure despite the losses he suffered in his life. This was in reference to the deaths of Biden’s first wife and daughter in a December 1972 car accident and his son’s death from brain cancer in May 2015.

“He’s been through so much,” Brittany said. “And he doesn’t show it on the outside. He may feel it on the inside — and I’m that type of person.”

This admiration came through in Brittany's DNC speech on Tuesday.

“I take powerful people up on my elevator all the time. When they get off, they go to their important meetings. Me, I just head back to the lobby,” Brittany said. “But in the short time I spent with Joe Biden, I could tell he really saw me. That he actually cared, that my life meant something to him. And I knew even when he went into his important meeting, he'd take my story in there with him.”

“That's because Joe Biden has room in his heart for more than just himself. We've been through a lot, and we have tough days ahead. But nominating someone like that to be in the White House is a good place to start. That's why I nominate my friend Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.”