Kamala Harris will open Night 3
Kamala Harris will make a surprise appearance at the beginning of the third night of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.
She will also give the traditional acceptance speech at the end of the two-hour virtual convention. But a convention planning official said the additional appearance is part of Democrats’ “unconventional convention.”
“There is incredible excitement around Senator Harris joining the ticket, and we want people to hear from her as much as possible,” the official said.
Democrats canceled their in-person convention and have worked to find ways to make the production of the virtual event more engaging for viewers watching at home without crowds cheering or the visuals of a large arena of supporters.
Obama has stayed out of the Trump fray since leaving office. Tonight might be different.
In the years since he left office, former President Barack Obama has abided by political convention and stayed relatively quiet about his successor.
That’s about to end, with growing anticipation that Obama will hold nothing back in criticizing President Trump on the third night of the convention.
Obama’s broader silence has at times led to some questions and criticism. As GQ noted in 2018, Obama’s absence had spawned a New York Magazine feature article as well as a parody song on “Saturday Night Live” from Chance The Rapper.
In the past couple of years, he’s been a bit more present, particularly around the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests.
That all makes what Obama is preparing to say on Wednesday night all the more significant. The American people have spent four years hearing plenty of people rail on Trump. They haven’t heard Obama, who remains quite popular in retirement.
How Harris’ Indian heritage and pioneering mother propelled her
The political journey of Kamala Harris, the first vice presidential candidate of Indian origin, has inspired millions of Indians, many of whom lofted banners of congratulations in her ancestral city of Chennai after learning that she had been named the Democratic vice presidential nominee.
The admiration goes both ways. The senator’s extended Indian family, particularly her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was an inspiration for Harris as she rose to the pinnacle of American politics, her uncle Gopalan Balachandran said in an interview at his home in India’s capital, New Delhi.
“That is the value — the value that you treat everybody equally. Don’t worry about where you are from, where do you go, what do you eat, what dress do you wear, what languages they speak. It all doesn’t matter,” Balachandran said. “That’s what my father told me and my sister. That’s what Shyamala told Kamala and [her sister] Maya. That’s the values they have.”
Those values will be on display Wednesday night when Harris will address the Democratic National Convention to introduce herself as the first Black and Indian American vice presidential nominee.
Trump hammers Obama ahead of DNC speech: ‘So ineffective, so terrible’
President Trump attacked Barack Obama on Wednesday, criticizing the former president for the message he is expected to deliver at the Democratic National Convention condemning his successor.
“When I listen to that and then I see the horror that he’s left us, the stupidity of the transactions that he’s made — look what we’re doing, we have our great border wall, we have security,” Trump said during a press conference at the White House.
Trump went on to call Obama “so ineffective, so terrible” and blamed him for the “slowest growing recovery in the history, I guess since 1929, on the economy.”
Night 2 of DNC draws about 19.2 million TV viewers, down from 2016
About 19.2 million people tuned in to Night 2 of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, matching a significant decline from 2016 also seen in the event’s first night, according to data released by media analytics company Nielsen.
Tuesday night’s audience was down about 22 percent from the 24.7 million people who tuned into the second night of the 2016 DNC convention. Monday night’s decline was about 24 percent.
The silver lining for Democrats, however, comes in the form of internet-based streaming, which has shown signs of a significant increase compared to 2016. TJ Ducklo, national press secretary for the Biden campaign, tweeted Tuesday that the first night of the convention shattered the previous record for digital streams with 10.2 million.
In VP acceptance speech, Harris to make the case for Biden over Trump
Kamala Harris is set to blast Trump’s “incompetence” and “callousness” while praising Joe Biden as someone who will as president turn “our challenges into purpose” during her speech Wednesday accepting the party’s vice-presidential nomination.
Harris will address the convention live from Wilmington, Delaware, and say she and Biden share values and a vision — one “of our nation as a beloved community where all are welcome, no matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we love,” according to prepared remarks.
But Harris will say “that country feels distant” now.
“Donald Trump’s failure of leadership has cost lives and livelihoods,” she will say.
“We’re at an inflection point,” she will add. “The constant chaos leaves us adrift. The incompetence makes us feel afraid. The callousness makes us feel alone. It’s a lot. And here’s the thing: We can do better and deserve so much more.”
Harris will say the country “must elect a president … who will bring all of us together — Black, white, Latino, Asian, Indigenous — to achieve the future we collectively want. We must elect Joe Biden.”
Democrats also released a teaser of the video that will introduce Harris at the convention.
As Biden’s running mate, Harris is the first Black or Asian American woman to appear on a major party’s presidential ticket.
“Right now, we have a president who turns our tragedies into political weapons,” she will say. “Joe will be a president who turns our challenges into purpose.”
Obama to implore voters to ’embrace your own responsibility as citizens’
Obama plans to make a direct appeal to undecided and disaffected voters in his speech at Wednesday night’s DNC while condemning Trump in some of his most direct language to date.
Obama will say he has sat in the Oval Office with both Biden and Trump and although he never expected his successor to embrace his policies he hoped “Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously,” according to prepared remarks.
“But he never did,” Obama will say. “He’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves. Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t.”
Obama will make the case for Biden in an appeal to voters, especially those who “just don’t know enough about the person who wants to lead us there.”
Describing Biden as a “brother,” Obama will say that his former vice president was “the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision.” He will add, “He made me a better president. He’s got the character and the experience to make us a better country.”
“But here’s the thing: no single American can fix this country alone. Democracy was never meant to be transactional – you give me your vote; I make everything better,” Obama will say. “So I am also asking you to believe in your own ability – to embrace your own responsibility as citizens – to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure.”
Michelle Obama ‘can’t wait’ to hear Harris tonight
‘I used to think it was because of his personality’: Biden again questions Trump’s intelligence
In his sharpest remarks to date questioning President Trump’s intelligence, Joe Biden said he believes the president cannot “intellectually handle” the responsibility required to lead the country.
“When it comes to the pandemic, after months of failure, he just gave up,” Biden told the Wisconsin convention delegation in short virtual remarks. “You know, I used to think it was because of his personality, but I just don’t think he can intellectually handle it. I don’t think he’s competent enough to know what to do. He just waved the white flag.”
The Democratic nominee’s remarks come as the Trump campaign has launched a new two-minute ad accusing Biden of having mentally declined since he left the vice presidency. Biden has previously dodged questions when asked about Trump’s attack on his cognitive abilities, often telling an audience “watch me,” especially at a debate against the president.
Biden also shamed the president for trying to fix the pandemic by holding daily press conferences, something that Trump restarted after polls showed him losing by big margins to Biden.
“He promised relief to mainstream businesses slammed by the recession. Instead, he bumped the Mar-a-Lago crowd to the front of the line getting the money for the wealthy that was supposed to go to small businesses,” Biden said. “And now he’s out trying to perform every day back on TV.”
“In a crisis, you all know it, character is revealed.”
In DNC speech, Hillary Clinton to say ‘this can’t be another woulda coulda shoulda election’
In her speech at Wednesday night’s DNC, Hillary Clinton will underscore the importance of voting to make Trump a one-term president, according to excerpts released ahead of her primetime appearance.
“For four years, people have said to me, ‘I didn’t realize how dangerous he was,’ ‘I wish I could go back and do it over.’ Or worst, ‘I should have voted.’ Well, this can’t be another woulda coulda shoulda election,” Clinton will say. “If you vote by mail, request your ballot now, and send it back as soon as you can. If you vote in person, do it early. Bring a friend and wear a mask. Become a poll worker. Most of all, no matter what, vote. Vote like our lives and livelihoods are on the line, because they are.”
Clinton will add that she had hoped Trump would be “a better president,” but “sadly, he is who he is.” Clinton is also expected to invoke the Suffragette movement and the Civil Rights movement in highlighting the importance of heading to the polls.
“There’s a lot of heartbreak in America right now – and the truth is, many things were broken before the pandemic. But, as the saying goes, the world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places,” she will say. “Joe Biden knows how to heal, unify, and lead, because he’s done all of that for his family and his country.”
