Democratic National Convention 2020: Day 1

Jim Clyburn, Majority Whip in the U.S. House of Representatives and representing South Carolina's 6th District.

South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn touted Joe Biden as the right leader for this moment because of both his ability to understand loss and his decency.

“Joe Biden is as good a man as he is a leader,” Clyburn said in a speech that focused on racial justice, adding that the country needs “a president who understands both profound loss; and what it takes to bounce back.”

Clyburn endorsed Biden on the eve of the South Carolina primary in February. The endorsement put Biden over the edge in the state that proved determinative in the Democratic primary, earning Clyburn significant influence on the Biden campaign.

Speaking from Charleston, South Carolina, Clyburn noted the city’s history with slavery, but also focused on its future combatting racism.

He added: “I have said before and wish to reiterate tonight; we know Joe — but more importantly, Joe knows us.”

Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, held a moment of silence in honor of his brother and the “many other souls we’ve lost to hate and injustice.”

Watch the moment:

Philonise Floyd, right, George Floyd's brother.

Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, addressed the Democratic National Convention and recalled the movement that the death of his brother began around the world.

“It’s a fitting legacy for our brother. But George should be alive today. Breonna Taylor should be alive today. Ahmaud Arbery should be alive today. Eric Garner should be alive today. Stephon Clark, Atatiana Jefferson, Sandra Bland—they should all be alive today,” he continued.

“So it’s up to us to carry on the fight for justice. Our actions will be their legacies. We must always find ourselves in what John Lewis called ‘good trouble.’ For the names we do not know, the faces we will never see, those we can’t mourn because their murders didn’t go viral,” Floyd said.

Rep. Gwen Moore from Wisconsin’s 4th Congressional District.

Speaking at the Democratic National Convention Monday night, Rep. Gwen Moore said she was honored to open the festivities in her home state, even if the delegates and supporters weren’t physically gathered in Milwaukee.

“What better way to gather than all across America to nominate my beloved friend, Joe Biden to be the 46th President of the United States of America, with my VIP, VP nominee, sister Kamala Harris by his side,” she added.

Actress Eva Longoria hosts the Democratic National Convention on August 17.

Democrats have kicked off their quadrennial convention in a mostly virtual format as they try to look to stir excitement about the newly minted ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at a time when Americans are rightly distracted by the coronavirus pandemic and the economic turmoil it has created.

Former first lady Michelle Obama, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo are among the headliners for the first night of programming that will be emceed by actress Eva Longoria.

In an effort to broaden the party’s appeal at a time when a new CNN poll shows the race between Biden and President Donald Trump tightening, Democrats added three Republican women to Monday night’s lineup, which was already slated to include former Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich.

Party officials have said that Monday’s theme will be “We the People” — with remarks focused on how the country can unite and move forward. The party also released a video excerpt of the remarks that Michelle Obama will deliver in a taped address, where she clearly plans to serve as a character witness for Biden, who she will call “a profoundly decent man guided by his faith” and someone who served as a “terrific vice president” to her husband

Joe Biden speaks out about family tragedy in new CNN doc:

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg said for President Trump to warn of a “rigged election” if he loses the presidential election is “not surprising” and “extremely disturbing.”

“He’s losing the election right now,” Buttigieg told CNN’s Jake Tapper ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which kicks off Monday night. “Donald Trump is historically unpopular president. He’s losing to Joe Biden. That doesn’t mean that he’ll automatically lose. We got to do the work. We got to earn this victory. But that’s the state of play.”

More context: President Trump on Monday used some of his starkest language yet in falsely warning of fraudulent election results during remarks in Wisconsin.

“The only way we’re going to lose this election is if this election is rigged,” President Trump said during a stop in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the second of several battleground events he is using this week to counterprogram the Democrats’ virtual convention.

“I’ve won elections and I’ve lost elections and losing elections is no fun, but when you do, you stand aside,” Buttigieg said. “Because there is something so much more important than your own political success and that’s this democracy, this country and listening to the will of voters. That the president of the united States is not committed to that, that’s bad news for democracy itself and of course, it’s bad news for America.”

The number of “Republicans for Biden” groups have been steadily growing, with high-profile organizations like the Lincoln Project and others gaining significant attention in their fight against President Trump.

The Biden campaign decided against including the Lincoln Project in its convention, a senior Democratic official said, but instead chose former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and three prominent Republican women in the lineup tonight. 

The speech from Kasich is designed to move Republicans concerned with Trump, but it’s also intended to combat the argument from the Trump campaign that the Biden-Harris ticket is a radical, liberal one. 

It’s aimed at independents — men and women — to give yet another permission slip to vote against Trump and for Biden.

The blowback from progressive groups is predictable, but a senior Biden adviser said these speeches were intentionally placed tonight — on the same evening as Bernie Sanders, to show the Biden big tent.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., arrives for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee hearing in Washington on Tuesday, June 9.

Democratic officials say Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto will use her speech to emphasize the need to protect mail-in voting and issue a “rebuke” of President Donald Trump as a legal battle plays out in her state over vote by mail.

This comes as Democrats are increasingly concerned about the President’s efforts to cast doubt upon mail-in voting heading into the fall election.

Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, gives his opening statement during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Policing Practices and Law Enforcement Accountability at the U.S. Capitol on June 10, in Washington, DC.

A moment of silence will be held at the virtual Democratic National Convention for George Floyd, with his brother speaking from Texas tonight in support of Joe Biden as the country continues its reckoning on racial justice and police reform.

A senior Democratic official tells CNN that Philonise Floyd will address the convention.

It is not a deeply political speech, but rather a nod to the man whose death sparked a summer of protests and demands for real acknowledgement and change to systemic racism.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders makes his entrance during a campaign rally at the TCF Center on March 6 in Detroit, Michigan.

Four months after he bowed out of the presidential race, Bernie Sanders speaks tonight with the goal of uniting Democrats behind Joe Biden.

Over the course of 8 minutes from Vermont, an aide to Sanders says the progressive Vermont senator will urge the country to come together to “remove the most dangerous president in history and elect Joe Biden.”

Biden and Sanders have not seen each other in person since their one-on-one primary debate in March, but the two speak regularly, the aide said, as their teams have worked closely since April on policy and efforts to unite the party. It’s a different approach for Sanders after a drawn out fight with Hillary Clinton in 2016. 

Tonight, he’s expected to rally progressives and all Democrats around Biden’s candidacy, sending a message to those who backed other candidates in the primary and voted for Trump in 2016, arguing the future of democracy and the economy is at stake and warning ”the price of failure is just too great to imagine.”

In this July 25, 2016 photo, then-First Lady Michelle Obama acknowledges the crowd after delivering remarks on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.

The Democratic National Convention kicks off this evening with a two-hour virtual event built on a theme of unity.

It will be a convention unlike any other: The coronavirus pandemic forced Democrats to scrap their planned in-person Milwaukee convention.

Instead, speakers will deliver speeches from locations across the country and without the large in-person crowds that are traditionally seen at these events. All eyes will be on how smoothly the transition to a virtual convention works.

The four-night event begins as former Vice President Joe Biden’s lead is showing signs of narrowing. In a CNN poll released Sunday night, 50% of registered voters backed Biden to Trump’s 46%, which is right at the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Top speakers of the night include former first lady Michelle Obama, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and a Republican — former Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

Obama and Sanders are two of the most popular figures in Democratic politics. Kasich, a former presidential candidate, is emblematic of the kind of anti-Trump Republican who Biden is hoping to win over in November.

Here’s what to watch starting at 9 p.m. ET Monday, on the first of four nights of the DNC:

Actress and activist Eva Longoria to kick off tonight’s events: Longoria, known for her role on Desperate Housewives, will lead this evening’s programming. The actress co-founded Latino Victory Fund, the first national Latino organization to endorse Joe Biden for president.

Michelle Obama’s speech: Obama is one of the nation’s most popular public figures — known for saying in her 2016 DNC speech, “when they go low, we go high.” But her speech Monday will come at a different moment in time — one that sees Trump running for reelection amid a global pandemic and protests against racism. On an evening devoted to a message of unity, how Obama injects optimism into the anxiety Democrats have felt about Trump’s tenure — and November’s election — could bring Monday’s most significant moment.

Bernie Sanders in the spotlight: Since he dropped out of the race in the spring, Sanders has worked to tamp down any potential insurrection against Biden from the party’s left. Tonight, Sanders will be offered his largest platform since his final debate with Biden. This time, though, he will be walking a thin line — simultaneously trying to appeal to his young base on Biden’s behalf, while also using the spotlight to make the case for his own policy agenda.

Read more about tonight’s events here.

Tonight marks Michelle Obama’s fourth speech to a Democratic National Convention, but her words tonight are unlike any other.

The former first lady will deliver the sharpest and most overtly political message of her time in public life tonight, an adviser tells CNN, in an unvarnished speech where she says what she’s been thinking for four years.

“It’s very strong, tough and personal,” the adviser said. “Tonight, she doesn’t hold back.”

Since Obama last took the stage at a Democratic convention so much has changed – with the Trump presidency, but also with her. Her popularity has soared with “Becoming” and she is no longer constrained with what she can say – as she has felt since that debut speech at the Democratic convention in 2008 in Denver.

Tonight, in a speech she had a heavy role in crafting herself, she will speak to the nation as “a mom, daughter and worried American.”

She will also pick up where former President Obama left off at the John Lewis funeral by taking about the critical importance of voting. She will address racial injustice, systemic racism and police killings – but she will use all of that to urge young Americans to vote.

Just hours before the Democratic National Convention is set to kick off, organizers published an excerpt on YouTube of former first lady Michelle Obama’s speech tonight where she praises presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

The first night of the convention begins tonight at 9 p.m. ET.

Watch the full excerpt here:

Then Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders delivers a campaign update at the Hotel Vermont on March 11 in Burlington, Vermont.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is set to be one of the major speakers tonight as the Democratic Convention begins virtually. 

In excerpts released by organizers, the former presidential candidate will call the 2020 election the “most important in the modern history of this country” and call on the country to unite to “defeat Donald Trump.” 

Read more of the excerpts here:

In this Dec. 4, 2018, then Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks at The City Club of Cleveland, in Cleveland.

John Kasich, the Republican former governor of Ohio, will be delivering remarks tonight at the Democratic National Convention.

According to excerpts released by organizers, Kasich will use his speech to support presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden and say his attachment to the Republican party “holds second place to my responsibility to my country.”

Kasich was a candidate for the GOP nomination in 2016, and has turned into a prominent voice of the party’s “Never Trump” movement.

And while his selection for a speaking slot at the convention angered progressives, handing the spotlight to such a well-known Republican could help Biden’s campaign strike chords of unity.

Read excerpts of his speech here:

Tom Perez, Democratic National Committee chairman, speaks during the Blue NC Celebration Dinner held at the Hilton Charlotte University Place on February 29 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

As Democrats prepare to launch their convention tonight with a speaker line-up that includes former Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said the party seeks to use the event as a platform to welcome Americans no matter their politics. 

Perez went on to suggest that the need to defeat President Trump supersedes both party lines and his many policy disagreements with Kasich, who was a rival of Trump for the GOP nomination in 2016.

“I disagree with Gov. Kasich on so many issues of importance such as the right to form a union and women’s reproductive health, but I agree with him wholeheartedly on the issue at hand, which is that our democracy is on fire,” he said.

“This is a moment for people to put country over party,” he added. “…We are indeed… a convention for everyone.”

Hours ahead of a historic — and unconventional — Democratic National Convention, CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf previewed the week ahead, fact-checked some of the misinformation around the campaign and took viewers’ questions.

Watch:

Read more about why the US still has political conventions and what will happen in 2020 here.

Eva Longoria speaks at the 2020 Women at Sundance Celebration on January 27 in Park City, Utah.

Actresses and activists Eva Longoria, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kerry Washington and Julia Louis-Dreyfus will each emcee one night of the Democratic National Convention, the convention committee announced Monday.

The celebrities will weave together the two hours of live and pre-recorded material each night during the almost entirely virtual program.

Longoria, known for her role on Desperate Housewives, will lead Monday evening’s programming. The actress co-founded Latino Victory Fund, the first national Latino organization to endorse Joe Biden for president.

Ross will participate in Tuesday night’s programming dedicated to the theme, “Leadership Matters.” Stacey Abrams and 16 other rising stars of the Democratic Party will deliver a joint keynote address that evening, offering a “diversity of different ideas” and “perspectives on how to move America forward.”

Washington, who received four Emmy nominations this year, will emcee Wednesday evening’s programming, when former President Barack Obama and presumptive vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris are slated to speak.

Louis-Dreyfus, who played Vice President Selina Meyer on the HBO series ‘Veep,’ will appear on Thursday, the night Biden is set to accept the Democratic presidential nomination. The ‘Veep’ star has spoken at virtual events and fundraisers for the former vice president on the campaign trail, especially making a case for his empathy and stance on healthcare.

Dreyfus shared in June that Biden, whose son Beau died of brain cancer, was one of the first people to reach out to her after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She noted that his “genuine kindness and concern” made her cry.

“Joe Biden actually understands that care is part of health care,” she said during the Women for Biden event.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris participate in a virtual grassroots fundraiser at the Hotel DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware.

The quadrennial national US political conventions are scheduled, even in this time of Covid, to formally nominate each party’s presidential candidate and settle on official party platforms for the general election.

Democrats will meet, mostly virtually, August 17-20 to nominate former Vice President Joe Biden. Republicans will meet August 24-27 in Charlotte, North Carolina, to nominate President Trump for a second term — a nomination he’s said he’ll accept somewhere else, possibly at the White House.

CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf talked to Adam Levy, who oversees CNN’s political research team, about what’s different this year — how things might play out, and whether these things are still important.

Part of their email conversation is below:

Read more here.

Hear more:

Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg participates in a health equity round table in Greenville, South Carolina on February 27.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg signaled today he was open to serving in a Biden-Harris administration should an offer be extended.

When asked about the President’s “assault” on various American institutions, Buttigieg said the public needs to be prepared for the President to attack the election and the results.

“The President seems to have a project of undermining the confidence of the American people in our own institutions in a way that undercuts democracy itself. And at this point, you know, the President is losing. If nothing changes, he will lose big in November. We the public need to be prepared for the President to attack the democratic system itself and, after the fact, to attack the legitimacy of the election that will have unseated him,” Buttigieg said. “We have to be ready on the backend to resist any effort to undermine democracy itself.”

Buttigieg said while he will continue working to elect Biden-Harris to the White House, “we must not make the mistake of treating the presidency like the only office that matters.”

“Republicans were smart about this, starting a generation ago building up majorities, building up power in our American system that puts so much power in those local and state offices. We have to make sure we are paying attention to that too,” Buttigieg said.

Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich participates in a discussion with former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper as part of the Brookings Institution's Middle Class Initiative October 10, 2018 in Washington.

The most out-of-place figure on the first night of the DNC will be John Kasich, the Republican former governor of Ohio.

Kasich was a candidate for the GOP nomination in 2016, and has turned into a prominent voice of the party’s “Never Trump” movement. And while his selection for a speaking slot at the convention angered progressives, handing the spotlight to such a well-known Republican could help Biden’s campaign strike chords of unity.

Kasich won’t be alone among the Democrats.

Former New Jersey Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, former Hewlett Packard CEO Meg Whitman, who ran for governor as a Republican in California in 2010 but backed Hillary Clinton in 2016, and former New York Republican Rep. Susan Molinari will speak in the run-up to Kasich’s address.

There is a history of political parties inviting a former political rival into their convention lineup. In 2008, then-Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman — just eight years after being the Democratic vice presidential nominee — spoke at the Republican National Convention in favor of then-Arizona Sen. John McCain. In 2012, Charlie Crist, who had previously served as the Republican governor of Florida (and is now a Democratic congressman), backed former President Barack Obama’s re-election at that year’s DNC.

What we know: Kasich’s message is likely to be oriented toward the need for a functioning government. As a 2016 presidential contender, he often touted his role as a one-time House budget chairman who negotiated spending plans with a surplus with former President Bill Clinton.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris arrive to deliver remarks at Alexis Dupont High School on August 12 in Wilmington, Delaware.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee, is set to accept the party’s nomination and deliver his acceptance speech this Thursday during the Democratic National Convention held in a virtual setting. His running mate Kamala Harris will do the same a night earlier.

“You got to unite this country. The only way it’s going to work, I think we can do it,” he continued.

A scaled-back event: The convention was originally going to take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but due to the pandemic and safety concerns, Biden and keynote speakers will not be traveling to the city and speeches will be streamed from multiple locations on video. Biden and Harris will deliver their convention speeches from the Chase Center in Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, spokesperson Michael Gwin confirmed to CNN.

The convention will feature just two hours of prime time programming on each of the four nights. The decision to limit the programming, which will be streamed online and aired by TV networks, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET each night is one of the starkest signs yet of how unconventional this year’s gathering will be in the age of coronavirus compared to previous conventions, typically filled with various events and speakers for many hours each day.

The Democratic National Convention has announced “Uniting America” as the theme for its four-night convention that will seek to argue why Democrats believe Biden is the candidate to lead the US out of a global crisis, contrasting his leadership style with that of President Trump.  

Billie Eilish performs onstage during the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 26.

The Democratic National Convention Committee announced several artists that will perform during the convention, including Leon Bridges, The Chicks, Common, Billie Eilish, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Billy Porter, Maggie Rogers, Prince Royce, and Stephen Stills. 

According to a news release, the performances will range from renditions of the national anthem, to American classics, to new songs.

Additionally, 57 youth choir members representing each of the 57 states and territories will perform the National Anthem Monday evening. 

Sen. Cory Booker speaks as Sen. Kamala Harris looks from behind him during a Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on June 16 in Washington.

Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said Monday that he’s excited about the Democratic National Convention this week, acknowledging that the all-virtual format will not look quite the same as years past but will be no less important.

“I know this is going to be different. But i think it’s actually going to be a little more intimate,” Booker told CNN’s John Berman on new day.

Booker said he was very happy when it was announced that Joe Biden had chosen Kamala Harris as his running mate. 

“I was so happy, not just because I love her dearly, but because I knew what this would mean for America, for generations yet unborn that will look to her and now in the pantheon of great Black women, great women, great Americans of history,” Booker said. “You haven’t seen anything yet. when America gets to know her better, they are going to continuously be inspired by the kind of heart, grit, guts and love that she has and has for this nation.”

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about economic recovery during a campaign event in New Castle, Delaware on July 21.

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is forging a new path, gathering a nationwide audience of supporters over Zoom to make up for a Democratic National Convention devoid of its usual live audience of thousands due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The campaign announced Friday that virtual watch parties will take place in all 50 states throughout next week’s convention, with elected officials like Pete Buttigieg and celebrities like Alyssa Milano acting as hosts, according to a news release shared first with CNN.

The watch parties offer a glimpse into how the campaign is making do with the challenges of hosting a virtual convention — a fanfare celebration that typically sees tens of thousands of supporters gathering together in person — almost entirely in the virtual realm due to restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

For the evenings that presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Biden deliver their speeches — Wednesday and Thursday, respectively — the campaign has recruited an array of high-profile guests to host watch parties in different states across the nation.

Biden’s former Democratic rivals from the presidential primary, including Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Yang, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Buttigieg, are among the hosts.

Other high-profile hosts include New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, L.A. Mayor and Biden campaign co-chair Eric Garcetti, actors Connie Britton, Milano and BD Wong, Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez and Biden’s sister, Valerie Biden Owens.

President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he leaves the White House for a trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin on August 17 in Washington.

President Trump downplayed his debate preparation Monday, contradicting reports that he’s working with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and lambasting former Vice President Joe Biden’s debate skills.

Asked how he was preparing, he said, “By working very hard. You know what? By working very hard, not on debates, but running the country.” 

“Honestly what I’m doing is I’m doing my job… I guess I’ll do some preparation, but I didn’t do much last time, because I understand what’s happening,” he said, citing law and order as one area where he didn’t need to prepare.

Despite reporting that he was working with Christie to prepare, Trump said, “I’m not using Chris. Chris is a friend of mine… I get along with Chris, he’s good and I used him last time.”

Trump reiterated that one of the debates should be moved up and predicted that if Biden “makes it through the debate,” the media will say Biden won. He again questioned Biden’s mental faculties.

A general view of the Wisconsin Center ahead of the Democratic National Convention on August 5 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Former Vice President Joe Biden has cancelled plans to travel to Milwaukee for the Democratic National Convention due to health and safety concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

The Democratic National Convention is this week, and it won’t look like any other in history. Democrats have moved their convention online because of health concerns due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Joe Biden will accept the Democratic nomination for president in a virtual address.

The four nights of programming will feature speeches from politicians, music performances from stars, and will allow Democrats to make their pitch to the American people before ballots are cast this fall.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch this year’s Democratic convention:

When is the convention? The convention is scheduled to take place Monday through Thursday this week, and each night of programming will air from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET.

There will be big speakers:

These musical acts are performing: Leon Bridges, The Chicks, Common, Billie Eilish, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Billy Porter, Maggie Rogers, Prince Royce, Stephen Stills and others will be performing throughout the four nights, according to the Democratic National Convention Committee. Youth choir members representing each of the 57 states and territories will also perform the National Anthem Monday night, according to the DNCC.

Where Joe Biden will accept the nomination: Biden will not accept the Democratic presidential nomination in Milwaukee, the original site of the convention, because of concerns caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, Biden and Harris will deliver their convention speeches from the Chase Center in Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, spokesperson Michael Gwin confirmed to CNN.

Where the rest of the convention will take place: The Democratic gathering will be far different than any in American history, with organizers calling it a “Convention Across America,” with speeches and music and other appearances from locations and major landmarks across the country.

Will convention delegates be in Milwaukee? No, the DNCC advised state delegations, including members of Congress, not to travel to Milwaukee because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Jason Rae, the secretary of the Democratic National Committee, informed all certified delegates that virtual voting on convention business would take place from August 3-15.