Politics and Government News

Biden to speak at Mondale memorial service Sunday

Vice President Joe Biden and Walter Mondale
Vice President Joe Biden shakes former Vice President Walter Mondale after Biden paid tribute to Joan Mondale at her memorial service at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014 in Minneapolis. Joan Mondale, 83, died Feb. 3.
AP Photo/Jim Mone

President Joe Biden is coming to Minnesota this weekend.

Biden will be in Minneapolis on Sunday to speak at a memorial service for former Vice President Walter Mondale at the University of Minnesota, the White House said.

Biden has called Mondale a “dear friend and mentor” and “one of our nation’s most dedicated patriots and public servants.” 

Gov. Tim Walz, Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and historian Jon Meacham are also scheduled to speak at the service.

Mondale, who was also a senator and an ambassador during his long career in public service, died last year at age 93, but a memorial was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden spoke at a memorial service in Minneapolis for Mondale’s wife Joan in 2014. At that service, Biden spoke of his friendship with the Mondales, which began with his own election in 1972.

He noted that he had just lost his wife and daughter in a car accident before arriving in the U.S. Senate, where he was welcomed by Joan and Walter Mondale.

"You embraced me. You included me. You brought me in," he said.