Democratic National Convention 2020: Day 2

Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams was among 16 other rising stars of the Democratic Party that delivered the joint keynote address during tonight’s Democratic National Convention programming, a slot typically reserved for just one speaker.

“This nation belongs to all of us. And in every election, we choose how we will create a more perfect union, not by taking sides but by taking stock of where we are and what we need,” Abrams said in her portion of the address.

Abrams used her platform to urge Americans to make their vote count.

“We know Joe Biden. America, we need Joe Biden. To make your voice heard text Vote to 30330. In a democracy, we do not elect saviors. We cast our ballots for those who see our struggles and pledge to serve…,” the Georgia Democrat said.

“We stand with Joe Biden because this isn’t just about defeating Donald Trump. We are in this to win for America. So let’s get it done,” Abrams said in closing.

Watch:

The Democratic Party looked to highlight some of its “rising stars from all across the country” during its keynote address that kicked off the second night of the Democratic National Convention.

This year’s address featured not one, but 17 of the Democratic Party’s rising politicians.

Participants included: Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta from Pennsylvania, State Rep. Victoria Neave from Texas, Mayor Randall Woodfin from Alabama, and more.

According to organizers in a news release, the joint address meant to “offer a diversity of different ideas and perspectives on how to move America forward, but they will all speak to the future we’re building together — a future with Joe Biden at the helm.”

Watch:

The second night of the Democratic National Convention has begun, with programming running from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. Jill Biden has long served as a supporting player to her husband’s political career, but she will command the spotlight as the headliner tonight.

Her speech is expected to highlight the personal side of former Vice President Joe Biden as a loving father who pulled his family back together after the death of his first wife, Neilia, and 1-year-old daughter Naomi in a car accident in 1972.

She will also speak to the other great tragedy of Biden’s life: the death of his son Beau Biden, the former Delaware attorney general, from brain cancer in 2015 when Biden was serving as vice president.

With the night’s programming centered on the theme “uniting America,” the keynote speech will take an unusual format featuring 17 rising stars in the Democratic Party. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will also speak and leaders will conduct the virtual roll call formally selecting Biden as the nominee of the Democratic Party.

Former President Bill Clinton will play an unusually peripheral role at a Democratic convention, a venue where he has been a star performer since the 1980s, including during his own campaigns; his speech in 2012 made the case for a second term for President Barack Obama in a way the incumbent never managed. He also spoke about his wife in 2016.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Democrats, and even some non-Democrats, are united behind Joe Biden as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. 

During her presidential bid, Warren had criticized Biden for not being progressive enough.

Speaking to CNN tonight, Warren listed some elements of Biden’s platform, including expanding Social Security, canceling student-loan debt and creating more green jobs. 

“I’m with him all the way in this fight,” Warren said. 

Former second lady Jill Biden has long said the role of political spouse does not come naturally to her, but tonight, she’s slated to deliver the biggest speech of her political career as she speaks directly to her husband’s character and values.

She has worked on this speech for several weeks with her team, often times over Zoom calls, with a Democratic official saying she has been the driving force behind the messaging for tonight’s remarks.

Her central argument will be that her husband is uniquely poised to mend a broken nation after mending his own family following multiple personal tragic losses – repeating the question, “How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole.” 

The official says Jill Biden will make no direct mention of President Donald Trump in her speech, which is different from the approach taken by former first lady Michelle Obama last night.

Instead, Jill Biden aims to draw a subtle contrast with the President as she talks about her husband’s vision and character. 

Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg participates in a Health Equity Roundtable at Nicholtown Missionary Baptist Church February 27 in Greenville, South Carolina.

The revamped Democratic convention will alter yet another tradition on Tuesday when the roll call vote to formally nominate Joe Biden will be held with people from all 57 states and territories appearing over video.

Expected participants: The range of Democrats set to nominate Biden runs the gamut from elected officials, including a number of his 2020 opponents, to activists like a fisherman from Alaska, a farmer in Kansas and a bricklayer in Missouri.

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, one of Biden’s 2020 challengers, will appear from Indiana, while other primary opponents like Rep. Tim Ryan in Ohio, Sen. Amy Klobuchar in Minnesota and Sen. Bernie Sanders in Vermont will appear.

The vote will also focus on key issues in the election. Marisol Garcia, a teacher from Arizona, will discuss returning to school during the coronavirus pandemic, while Howard Chou from Colorado will discuss issues facing working parents during the crisis. Fred Guttenberg of Florida, whose daughter was killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018, will discuss gun violence. And activist Khizr Khan, whose speech about his son who died in combat during the last convention became a breakout moment in 2016, will appear from Virginia by highlighting the racial violence that killed one person in Charlottesville in 2017.

To honor the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote, Keely Sage, a college student in Tennessee, will appear from the headquarters of the suffragists to discuss the role of women in electing Biden.

How it will work: Both Biden, the top vote getter, and Sanders, who finished in second, will be placed into nomination on Tuesday in what organizers hope will be a unifying moment for the party.

The roll call vote process is traditionally a long affair with each delegation in the convention arena going around and pledging delegates to candidates who ran in their primary or caucus. This process will be sped up — organizers expect it to take 30 minutes.

While the roll call vote will go in alphabetical order, organizers have planned to have Delaware — Biden’s home state — pass when their turn comes up and return to the process to be the decisive state for the former vice president. Gov. John Carney and Sen. Tom Carper will appear for Delaware.

Once the roll call vote is finished, Biden will officially be the party’s nominee, a designation he will accept on Thursday.

See the full list of participants in the roll call vote here.

A security guard went viral early this year after she said “I love you” to Joe Biden in an elevator. On Tuesday night, that same woman is expected to give the first speech officially nominating Biden for president at the Democratic National Convention, according to a Biden aide and a convention organizer.

Jacquelyn Brittany, an African American woman, was escorting the former vice president to a New York Times editorial board meeting in December when she turned to him and said, “I love you. I do. You’re like my favorite.”

The exchange was caught on tape and aired as part of the New York Times’ TV series “The Weekly.”

Biden did not win the endorsement of The New York Times editorial board, but he and his campaign touted this exchange as the real prize. 

“Honored to have won Jacquelyn’s endorsement,” Biden tweeted alongside the video. 

The Washington Post was first to report on Jacquelyn’s involvement at the DNC. Brittany is her middle name, and she declined to the Post to have her last name printed.

Former Housing and Urban Development secretary Julian Castro speaks during the Democratic Presidential Committee summer meeting on August 23, 2019 in San Francisco.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro reproved the Democratic National Committee on Tuesday, saying he believed they ought to have scheduled a greater number of Latinos to speak in this week’s committee meeting from the outset. 

Castro said there were originally just three Latinos scheduled out of 35 primetime speakers, but that the DNC had added more over the weekend after facing criticism, including emcee actress and activist Eva Longoria and Kristin Uquiza, who lost her father to Covid-19. The convention’s organizers also sparked criticism for giving Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez only one minute to speak during Tuesday’s programming.

Castro said he believed it is important for the party to continue to build bridges into the Latino community, not only for this year’s election but for the future.

“Even though we do win, really what we want to do is cement a strong relationship between one of the fastest growing communities in the United States and Democrats,” he said. “…If we want to win up and down the ballot for years to come we have to make sure there aren’t missteps like only 3 our of 35 speakers.”

Castro, however, characterized both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as “fantastic people” with a “strong track record” with the Latino and contrasted the DNC with the RNC saying it’s like “night and day.”

“Ours is the big tent party,” he said. 

Watch:

Democratic convention organizers released an excerpt of remarks from former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell that will be delivered at tonight’s convention.

He praises Joe Biden’s values, saying, “We need to restore those values to the White House.”

“I support Joe Biden for the presidency of the United States,” Powell says in an excerpt of his remarks.

Powell is the latest Republican to speak in favor of the presumptive Democratic nominee. He said in June that he’d vote for Biden in the 2020 presidential election, choosing again not to vote for Donald Trump for president.

Watch an excerpt of his remarks:

In this Aug. 13, 2020, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference at the Hotel DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware.

Democrats will gather for the second night of their virtual convention on Tuesday to make the case that Joe Biden is the best person, in this time of national upheaval, to lead the way forward. Programming will take place 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET.

Former first lady Michelle Obama closed out the first night of the convention with a powerful and memorable speech that condemned President Trump’s record and handling of the pandemic, and appealed to voters to turn out to vote for Joe Biden in November.

Tonight, former second lady Jill Biden will close out the night. She is expected to provide a personal testament to the character of the man she married in 1977. The speech will likely emphasize Biden’s personal decency, as a father and family member.

Here’s what you need to know about the second night of the DNC:

Read more about tonight’s events here.

Jill Biden, former second lady and wife of presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, will be the headliner of tonight’s programming, and is expected to provide a personal testament to the character of the man she married more than 40 years ago.

Read more excerpts from Jill Biden’s speech:

Meanwhile, former president Bill Clinton will deliver a sharp rebuke of Trump’s presidency.

Read more portions of his speech:

Former acting US Attorney General Sally Yates will use her speech to rebuke President Trump’s relationship with the rule of law.

“We need a president who respects our laws and the privilege of public service. Who reflects our values and cares about our people. We need a president who will restore the soul of America,” she will say in another portion of her speech.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry will uphold Joe Biden’s “moral compass” and decry Trump as a person who is only “interested in defending is himself.”

A video narrated by Cindy McCain, the widow of the late Sen. John McCain, will be featured tonight during the convention. The segment traces the unlikely friendship between her husband and Joe Biden, a senior Democratic official tells CNN.

Cindy McCain tweeted about her participation in the video:

“My husband and Vice President Biden enjoyed a 30+ year friendship dating back to before their years serving together in the Senate, so I was honored to accept the invitation from the Biden campaign to participate in a video celebrating their relationship.”

Watch an excerpt:

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about economic recovery during a campaign event at Colonial Early Education Program at the Colwyck Center on July 21 in New Castle, Delaware.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden made two, pooled virtual stops by state delegations to the Democratic convention  — to Pennsylvania and Florida, per the pool reporter.

He predicted to the Florida delegation that the 2020 convention is a “template for the the future.”

Biden again took the opportunity to slam President Trump for his handling of the pandemic.

“After months of failure, he’s just given up. I used to think it was because he was callous, but I think it’s because he’s just not smart enough to know what to do. I really mean it. I just don’t think he has it in him to know what to do,” he said.

Per the pool reporter, Biden closed by mentioning that he is excited to watch his wife’s convention speech tonight, reminding them, “I’m Jill Biden’s husband.” He added, “I hope tonight works as well as last night.”

Democratic presidential hopeful former Vice President Joe Biden speaks, flanked by his wife Jill Biden, at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 10.

Jill Biden will headline night two of the convention from a location in Delaware that highlights her long time career as a teacher.

Biden will deliver remarks live from Brandywine High School in Wilmington in the classroom where she taught English in the early 1990s, a source familiar with her speech said.

Biden’s teaching career has been central to her message this campaign season as she’s talked about the need to lift up educators. She holds a doctorate in education from the University of Delaware, which she earned in 2007.

Biden said she hopes to continue teaching if she becomes first lady.

“I would love to. If we get to the White House, I’m going to continue to teach,” she said in an interview that aired on CBS Sunday Morning. “I want people to value teachers and know their contributions and to lift up the profession.”

It would not be the first time Biden would have to balance official duties with her professional work. She taught English at Northern Virginia Community College during the eight years she served as second lady, along with working on initiatives to help military families.

Biden took a leave of absence from teaching this year as she campaigned for her husband.

“He’s always supported my career. And this is a critical time for me to support him because, you know, I want change,” she told CNN in January. “I want a new president.”

“Teaching is not just what Jill does, it’s who she is,” Joe Biden says in a newly-released clip from a documentary about his wife. “Jill just simply cares.”

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks onstage during the TIME 100 Health Summit at Pier 17 on October 17, 2019 in New York.

Bill Clinton’s speech at the second night of the Democratic National Convention will be his “sharpest rebuke” of President Trump ever, a source familiar with the remarks told CNN, with the former president calling out his successor by name and noting specific mistakes he believe he has made.

Clinton will center the speech on Trump’s handling of the coronavirus, the source said, and explain why he believes Biden has the leadership qualities to help the country fight the virus. Organizers hope that Clinton, one of only four living former presidents, will be able to convince viewers that the few people who know what it is like to be president believe Biden has the qualities needed to be successful.

Clinton has become a Democratic convention staple over the last 40 years. The former Arkansas governor and president has addressed every Democratic convention since 1980 and this speech will be his eleventh convention address.

This will be a speech unlike any other, however. His remarks will be pre-taped and far shorter than his past addresses. His 2012 address on behalf of Barack Obama, for example, was 48 minutes long — with significant portions ad-libbed.

Ahead of Jill Biden’s speech tonight, former first lady Michelle Obama expressed her support for Biden in an Instagram post and shared several images of them together.

“There’s not a doubt in my mind that Jill will make a wonderful First Lady. So I hope you’ll watch her tonight. And if you haven’t yet, I hope you’ll make your plan to vote early—in person or by mail,” Obama says at the end of the post.

Read the full post:

There will be no traditional keynote address at this year’s Democratic National Convention — instead, the party will look to highlight some of its youngest and most promising members.

This year’s address will feature not one, but 17 of the Democratic Party’s “rising stars from all across the country,” according to organizers.

Participants include: Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta from Pennsylvania, State Rep. Victoria Neave from Texas, Mayor Randall Woodfin from Alabama, and more.

According to a news release, they will “offer a diversity of different ideas and perspectives on how to move America forward, but they will all speak to the future we’re building together—a future with Joe Biden at the helm.”

The address will take place during Tuesday’s program, under the theme“Leadership Matters.”

Watch an excerpt of their speech:

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden hugs his wife Jill as he speaks at a town hall event in Des Moines on February 2.

As she prepares to deliver the biggest political speech of her career, Jill Biden will speak in personal and optimistic terms, a source familiar with her remarks says, as she makes the case for her husband Joe Biden as president.

Tonight’s speech also will serve as a reintroduction of sorts for the former second lady who now hopes to step into the role of first lady if her husband’s elected, with the source saying, “You’re going to see what kind of first lady she’s going to be.”

Some background: Jill Biden has already committed to teaching if she becomes first lady, the second time she’d have to balance the official duties of a presidential administration with her personal career obligations.

Jill Biden, who has a doctorate in education, is also expected to confront the issue of education through the backdrop of her speech – a high school classroom where she taught English nearly three decades ago – as well as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as parents, students and educators are grappling with reopening schools safely and remote learning, the source said.

Jill Biden has often talked about how the role of political spouse has not come naturally to her, but over the course of the Democratic primary, she was among the most active political spouses on the campaign trail, honing her message and offering the most personal testimony to her husband’s character and leadership style – something she’s expected to do once again tonight.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks with members of the media before a Green New Deal For Public Housing Town Hall on December 14, 2019 in the Queens borough of New York.

The convention organizers only gave Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez one minute to speak, but there’s a good bet those 60 seconds will be the most buzzed about of the night.

Ocasio-Cortez is, by any measure, one of the most influential young political leaders in America. She is better suited than any other Democrat to this week’s virtual medium, which has more in common with an Instagram live video than a standard convention hall address.

She won’t have much time to do it, but Ocasio-Cortez is expected to use her turn to spotlight Sanders’ success in awakening and driving forward a progressive movement that will send some of its brightest new stars to Capitol Hill next year. Still, for those holding out hope she’ll mix in a blunt rejection of Biden’s liberal-leaning centrism, disappointment awaits.

In the months since Sanders dropped out of the primary, Ocasio-Cortez has largely set aside the intra-party debates of the past (and future), focusing instead on a home district that’s been battered by the coronavirus pandemic.

She also co-chaired, along with Kerry, the Biden-Sanders “unity task force” on climate, the policy group that produced — of the six formed by the two campaigns — the recommendations regarded as most likely to surface again if Biden wins in November.

In this image from video, former first lady Michelle Obama speaks during the first night of the Democratic National Convention on Monday, Aug. 17.

The coronavirus pandemic forced Democrats to move their entire national convention online. There were no major technical glitches, and overall, Democrats appeared to effectively pull it off.

The first night highlighted individual Americans across the country hurt by the pandemic and President Trump’s politics and policies. Kristin Urquiza, whose father died after contracting the coronavirus, delivered a line that will likely echo for the rest of the campaign: “My dad was a healthy 65-year-old. His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that he paid with his life.”  

Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and other former Republicans sought to make the case that Joe Biden is the best candidate to win over moderate Republican voters.

Family members of George Floyd, killed by police on Memorial Day in Minneapolis, and the mother of Eric Garner, who died after being placed in a chokehold by a police officer in New York six years ago, both spoke. Biden also moderated a short panel discussion on racial justice.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders made the case for Biden, appealing to his own supporters who are frustrated by Biden’s refusal to embrace policies like “Medicare for All.” Sanders noted the former vice president’s increasingly ambitious climate change plans and warned that Biden’s election was key to safeguarding the left’s recent gains.

Michelle Obama closed out the night, and her address represented one of the most effective moral arguments against Trump’s presidency from a prominent Democrat.

Obama excoriated Trump for what she called “a total and utter lack of empathy” in the most important speech of Monday night’s program.

Her role was clear: The former first lady got nearly 19 minutes — the longest speaking slot of the night, by far — to tear into Trump’s character.

Read six takeaways from the DNC’s first night here.

Politician Stacey Abrams speaks onstage during The Hollywood Reporter's Power 100 Women in Entertainment at Milk Studios on December 11, 2019 in Hollywood.

Stacey Abrams and 16 other rising stars of the Democratic Party will deliver a joint keynote address during Tuesday night’s Democratic National Convention programming, a slot typically reserved for just one speaker.

The elected officials will speak under the evening’s theme, “Leadership Matters,” offering a “diversity of different ideas” and “perspectives on how to move America forward,” according to a news release from the DNC.

Several of the speakers are some of former Vice President Joe Biden’s early primary supporters, including Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, South Carolina State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, and Nevada State Sen. Yvanna Cancela.

Reps. Colin Allred of Texas and Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania, who both stumped for Biden in Iowa ahead of the state’s caucuses, are also slated to speak.

Jill Biden and Bill Clinton are also slated to deliver remarks during Tuesday night’s program.