'My name's Joe Biden. And I'm a Democrat. And I loved John McCain': Biden gives emotional eulogy at McCain's memorial service

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• Former Vice President Joe Biden gave an emotional eulogy at Sen. John McCain's memorial service in Arizona on Thursday, calling the former Republican presidential candidate "a brother."
• Biden started off his eulogy saying, "My name's Joe Biden. And I'm a Democrat. And I loved John McCain."

Former Vice President Joe Biden gave an emotional eulogy at Sen. John McCain's memorial service in Arizona on Thursday, calling the former Republican presidential candidate "a brother."

Wiping tears from his eyes, Biden started off his eulogy saying, "My name's Joe Biden. And I'm a Democrat. And I loved John McCain." After saying he thought of McCain as his brother, Biden said their brotherhood included "a lot of family fights."

"We'd talk about family," Biden said of his relationship with McCain. "We'd talk about politics. We'd talk about international relations. We'd talk about promise - the promise of America."

Biden recalled his travels across the world with McCain and their "cock-eyed optimism" about the future of America.

"Above all, we understood the same thing, all politics is personal," Biden said of his similarities with McCain. "It's all about trust. I trusted John with my life, and I would, and I think he would trust me with his."

Biden's son, Beau, died from the same form of brain cancer as McCain and the late Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy. He recalled in his eulogy the pain that it brought to him and his family.

"There are times when life can be so cruel, pain so blinding, it's hard to see anything else," Biden said. "To survive, we have to remember how they lived - not how they died."

Biden did not shy away from making a political statement during his eulogy. Talking about how much the Senate had changed since he and McCain arrived, Biden rebuked the current political state in the country as he glared at the US senators in attendance at the service.

"It's impossible to reach consensus," Biden said. "All we do today is attack the opposition in both parties, their motives - not the substance of their argument."

Before Thursday's service for McCain in Arizona, the late senator lied in state at the Arizona State Capitol on Wednesday.

Biden concluded his eulogy with a paraphrase of Shakespeare: "We shall not see his like again."

McCain's funeral services will continue Friday when he will lie in state in the US Capitol's rotunda. McCain will become the 33rd person and 13th senator to receive the rare honor.

On Saturday morning, there will be a private service for McCain at the Washington National Cathedral before he is buried at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis on Sunday.