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The Democratic National Convention (DNC) has now entered its final day at the United Center in Chicago, where some of the party’s biggest heavyweights have taken to the stage over the last three days.
While the DNC is first and foremost a presidential nominating convention, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz already have their places in the White House race sown up after a five-day round of online voting for delegates wrapped on August 5.
Now, as many as 50,000 visitors have descended on the Steven Spielberg-coordinated convention in the Windy City, including 5,000 delegates from 50 states and territories, plus 15,000 members of the media, tens of thousands of guests and a huge contingent of Gaza ceasefire protesters.
The convention has been organized around four distinct themes, one for each day: Monday’s was “For the People”, examining the Biden administration’s accomplishments in the White House and how a future Harris Cabinet could continue its work, Tuesday’s was “A Bold Vision for America’s Future”, Wednesday’s was “A Fight for Our Freedoms” and Thursday’s is “For Our Future”.
Here the latest on what we know about the convention’s schedule.
Monday
President Joe Biden delivered the headline speech on the opening night, giving an emotional address to rapturous applause from the crowd.
Introduced by First Lady Dr Jill Biden and his daughter Ashley Biden, the 81-year-old president ran through his accomplishments in the Oval Office before making a forceful case against Donald Trump.
Denying that he was “angry” with members of his party who pressured him to step aside from the 2024 race, Biden explained: “I love my job, but I love my country more.”
Hillary Clinton, the party’s 2016 presidential nominee, also spoke of her desire to see the “highest, hardest glass ceiling” smashed with the election of a first female president.
Delegates also heard from Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jim Clyburn, Jasmine Crockett, Robert Garcia, Grace Meng and Jamie Raskin, Senators Raphael Warnock and Chris Coons, Governors Andy Beshear and Kathy Hochul, DNC chair Jaime Harrison and United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain.
Tuesday
The Obamas took to the stage on Tuesday delivering an electrifying endorsement of the Harris-Walz administration while eviscerating Trump.
Michelle denounced Trump for peddling a narrative of fear and declared that “hope is making a comeback” while also poking fun at Trump’s reference to “Black jobs”, adding that the “job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs”.
In his speech, Barack heaped praise on both Harris and Biden while slamming Trump for “the childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theories, this weird obsession with crowd sizes.”
Other speakers included Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff – including a touching video tribute from his son Cole –Senators Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, and Tammy Duckworth, Billionaire Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Trump’s former press secretary Stephanie Grisham.
Wednesday
Walz took to the stage to deliver a rousing acceptance speech to formally accept his vice presidential nomination.
Met with roaring chants of “Coach! Coach! Coach!” he dived into a football-themed metaphor: “It’s the fourth quarter, we’re down a field goal, but we’re on offense and we have the ball, we’re driving down the field and boy do we have the right team... Kamala Harris is ready!”
Former president Bill Clinton also took to the stage and made a jibe at Trump’s age, noting that he celebrated his 78th birthday on Monday but “I'm still younger than Donald Trump”.
Oprah Winfrey also made a surprise appearance, slamming JD Vance’s “childless cat ladies” comments.
Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, former VP hopefuls Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro also delivered speeches.
Thursday
As is tradition, Kamala Harris will wrap up the final day of the convention on Thursday night with a headline speech as she formally accepts the nomination to be the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential candidate.
Reverend Al Sharpton, a prominent civil rights activist and baptist minster, has also announced he will take the podium.
Additionally, former Republican congressman and outspoken Trump opponent Adam Kinzinger is expected to speak.
How to watch:
- C-SPAN will broadcast the full convention without interruption
- CBS News will cover the convention in its primetime slots between Monday and Thursday from 8-11pm ET.
- ABC News will carry one hour of the convention from 10-11pm ET on Monday and Tuesday, and then will carry two hours on Wednesday and Thursday between 9-11pm ET.
- Fox News will air a nightly special called “Fox News Democracy 2024: The Democratic National Convention” Monday through Thursday from 10pm until 11pm.
- CNN will be covering the DNC nonstop during the week, and will air live coverage every night from 8pm until midnight ET under the title “CNN Democratic National Convention.”
- NewsNation’s “Decision Desk 2024: The Democratic National Convention,” will air each day of the convention from 8pm until midnight ET.
