Echoes From U.S’s Democratic National Convention
DNC 2024 live updates: Biden touts his record, says choosing Kamala Harris as his VP was ‘the best decision’ of his career
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz smiled on from the crowd as Harris briefly addressed the convention.
President of the United States Joe Biden delivered remarks on night one of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, United States on August 19, 2024
The Democratic National Convention kicked off today in Chicago, with an opening night that featured a brief surprise appearance from Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of speeches from President Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Musical artists like Jason Isbell and Mickey Guyton also performed at the event on Monday night, the theme of which was “For the People.”
After receiving an extended standing ovation when he took the stage at the United Center, Biden touted his administration’s accomplishments on the economy, infrastructure and healthcare, among other issues. He said he presided over “one of the most extraordinary four years of progress ever.” Of Harris, Biden said choosing her to be his vice presidential nominee in 2020 was “the best decision I made my whole career.”
The DNC, which will run through Thursday, will be streamed on YouTube, and you can watch it on cable or streamers like Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock and Max.
Yahoo News will live-blog primetime speeches and provide analysis and key takeaways afterward. Our extensive partner network will also provide breaking news and analysis. Stick with us for full coverage.
Colin Campbell
DNC night 1 closes
Minnesota Lt. Gov Peggy Flanagan took a voice vote to close out Monday night at the Democratic convention. The vote occurred at about 11:30 p.m. local time in Chicago.
The Democratic National Convention resumes Tuesday night.
David Knowles
Harris and Walz join the Bidens on stage
At the conclusion of his speech to the Democratic National Convention, President Biden was joined on stage by his wife, Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
That “pass the torch” moment capped the first night of the DNC.
Colin Campbell
Biden says Gaza protests ‘have a point’ as he urges ceasefire
President Biden briefly addressed Israel’s war in Gaza during his keynote speech on Monday, saying the pro-Palestinian protesters outside the convention hall “have a point.”
“A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides,” said Biden.
Biden, a staunch supporter of U.S. military aid to Israel, elicited cheers from the crowd as he strongly urged a ceasefire and touted humanitarian efforts.
“We’ll keep working to bring hostages home and end the war in Gaza and bring peace and security to the Middle East. As you know, I wrote a peace treaty for Gaza,” he said. “A few days ago, I put forward a proposal that has brought us closer to doing that than we’ve done since Oct. 7. We’re working around the clock … to prevent a wider war and reunite hostages with their families, and surge humanitarian health and food assistance into Gaza now. To end the civilian suffering of the Palestinian people, and finally — finally, finally — deliver a ceasefire and end this war!”
David Knowles
Biden says picking Harris as his vice president was ‘the best decision I made my whole career’
Biden repeatedly praised Harris in his speech Monday at the DNC.
“Selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made … when I became our nominee,” Biden said, “And it was the best decision I made in my whole career.”
“She’s tough,” Trump continued, “She’s experienced and she has enormous integrity.”
Dylan Stableford
Biden dismisses reports he’s angry at people who wanted him to step aside
Near the end of his speech, President Biden addressed reports that he is angry at Democratic officials, like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others, who publicly and privately urged him to drop his reelection bid.
“I love my job, but I love my country more,” Biden said. “And all this talk about how I’m angry at all those people who said I should step down, that’s not true.
“I love my country more and we need to preserve our democracy,” he added. “In 2024, we need you to vote. We need you to keep the Senate. We need you to win back the House of Representatives. And above all, we need you to beat Donald Trump.”
David Knowles
Biden’s speech has During his speech at the DNC on Monday, President Biden made an impassioned case for what he had accomplished during his term in office. But his delivery also had some unsteady moments that served to remind his audience of his much-criticized debate performance against Donald Trump that ultimately led Democrats to pressure him to exit the race.
Perhaps the most glaring example came when he reflected on the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and send the question of whether to outlaw abortion to the states.
“The decision overturning Roe v. Wade, that you heard earlier tonight, the United States Supreme Court majority wrote the following: Quote, women are not without electrical, are not, not allowed, are not without electoral or political power. No kidding,” Biden said, before regaining his footing.
some stumbles
Dylan Stableford
Biden calls Trump a ‘loser’
During his speech at the DNC, one of President Biden’s biggest applause lines came when he blasted former President Donald Trump for the message he sends to foreign leaders.
“Donald Trump calls America a failing nation,” Biden said. “Think about the message he sends around the world when he talks about America being a failing nation, when he says we’re losing. He’s the loser! And he’s dead wrong.”
- Colin Campbell
Biden takes victory lap on own policy record
Biden devoted a good portion of his keynote speech to his term in office.
“I made a commitment to you that I’d be a president for all of America, whether you voted for me or not. And we have done that,” he said.
He ticked off a series of economic stats and declared he had presided over “one of the most extraordinary four years of progress ever.” He highlighted new initiatives tackling climate change, infrastructure and other issues.
“We finally beat Big Pharma,” he added, touting an insulin price cap. (During his highly criticized debate performance, Biden had botched a similar line, accidentally saying: “We finally beat Medicare.”)
- Dylan Stableford
Biden: ‘Democracy must be preserved’
In his speech, President Biden said he ran against Donald Trump in 2020 in order to save democracy.
“I stand before you now on this August night to report that democracy has prevailed,” Biden said. “Democracy has delivered. And now democracy must be preserved.”
David Knowles
Biden: ‘You cannot say you love your country only when you win’
In his speech before the DNC on Monday, Biden once again spoke of his love for America and his vehement opposition to the violent insurrection waged by supporters of former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021.
“There is no place in America for political violence,” he said. “You cannot say you love your country only when you win.”
Later, Biden said the country is still engaged in a “battle for the very soul” of the nation.
Dylan Stableford
Biden receives long standing ovation at the DNC
Less than a month after dropping his reelection bid, President Biden received an extended standing ovation when he took the stage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday night.
“I love you,” Biden said as the crowd chanted “We love Joe!” and “Thank you, Joe!” for over three minutes.
Biden was introduced by his daughter Ashley Biden.
“I’ll tell you what,” Biden said, fighting back tears. “To my dearest daughter Ashley, God love you, you’re incredible.”
Biden also praised his wife, first lady Jill Biden, who spoke before Ashley, saying, “I love her more than she loves me.”
Dylan Stableford
First lady Jill Biden addresses DNC ahead of Joe
“Joe and I have been together for almost 50 years, and there are still moments when I fall in love with him all over again,” she said, citing numerous examples of his caring for their children, helping people in need and, most recently, deciding to drop his reelection bid.
“I saw him dig deep into his soul and decide to no longer seek reelection and endorse Kamala Harris,” the first lady said.
- David Knowles
Warnock: ‘Trump is a plague on the American conscience’
Sen. Raphael Warnock delivered a speech at the DNC on Monday that described Trump as “a plague on the American conscience.”
Warnock, a pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, won a special Senate election held on Jan. 5, 2021.
“The day after my Jan. 5 election, [Trump] instigated an insurrection. A violent assault on our nation’s Capitol and the peaceful transfer of power, all driven by the ‘big lie.’ But behind the big lie was an even bigger lie. It is the lie that this increasingly diverse American electorate does not get to determine the future of the country,” Warnock said, adding, “The lie and the logic of Jan. 6 is a sickness. It is a kind of cancer that then metastasized into dozens of voter suppression laws all across our country.”
Dylan Stableford
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear blasts Trump and Vance on abortion
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear used his primetime speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night to hammer away at the issue that polls show energizes Democratic voters following the fall of Roe v. Wade: reproductive freedom.
“Folks, Donald Trump appointed the Supreme Court justices that got us into this mess,” said Beshear, who was among the finalists considered by Kamala Harris for running mate. “Trump and Vance simply don’t believe in your freedom.
“Trump says that people are absolutely thrilled that women had their basic rights eliminated,” the Kentucky governor continued. “JD Vance says that women should stay in violent marriages and that pregnancies resulting from rape are simply inconvenient. Their policies give rapists more rights than their victims.
“That’s not inconvenient,” he added. “That’s just plain wrong.”
David Knowles
Rep. Jasmine Crockett fires off zingers at Trump, then shares vulnerability
In her speech at the DNC on Monday, Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas launched a series of contrasts between Harris and Trump that elicited laughs and applause from her audience.
“One candidate worked at McDonalds while she was in college at an HBCU, HU. The other was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and helped his daddy in the family business — housing discrimination, that is,” Crockett, a former public defender, said.
“She became a career prosecutor, while he became a career criminal — with 34 felonies, 2 impeachments and one porn star to prove it,” she added.
“She’s lived the American dream, while he’s been America’s nightmare,” she said.
Crockett then tearfully relayed a story about meeting Harris for the first time shortly after being elected to the House of Representatives. Crockett, under stress from her new job, said Harris comforted her.
“You are exactly where God wants you. Your district chose you because they believe in you and so do I,” she said.
Crocket then returned to the zingers.
“The question before us is, will a vindictive, vile villain violate voters’ visions for a better America or not?”
Colin Campbell
3 women share their pregnancy trauma to defend abortion rights
Three women took to the stage Monday night to share their traumatic pregnancy experiences and defend abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The women, Amanda Zurawski (who appeared with her husband, Josh), Kaitlyn Joshua and Hadley Duvall, all appeared onstage together.
Each placed blame on former President Donald Trump for the current crackdown on abortion access in many Republican-led states. Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices and hailed the court’s 6-3 ruling in 2022 that dismantled the landmark 1973 abortion protections.
“I was lucky. I lived,” said Zurawski, who unsuccessfully sued the state of Texas after her ordeal, which damaged her reproductive system. “Because of Donald Trump, more than 1 in 3 women of reproductive age in America lives under an abortion ban. A second Trump term would rip away even more of our rights.”
Joshua said she was turned away from two different Louisiana emergency rooms while experiencing a miscarriage.
Duvall wrote an op-ed earlier this year in the Louisville Courier Journal describing how, when she was 12 years old, she was raped by her stepfather and discovered she was pregnant from the abuse. She said cases like hers prove the importance of abortion access.
- Dylan Stableford
Raskin recalls Trump’s support for Jan. 6 rioters who chanted ‘Hang Mike Pence’
‘Someone should have told Donald Trump that the president’s job under Article II of the Constitution is to take care that the laws are faithfully executed — not that the vice president is executed.’
— Rep. Jamie Raskin, Democrat from Maryland, in a speech that included multiple references to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters, including some who chanted “Hang Mike Pence.” Trump reportedly expressed support for the rioters who chanted it.
Neia Balao
DNC spoofs ‘Law & Order’
During the Democratic National Convention, a “Law & Order” spoof was used to condemn Donald Trump’s criminal behavior. Shining a spotlight on Trump’s history of fraud, infidelity and sexual assault, the segment featured a “Law & Order”-style narration, along with images of newspaper headlines and courtroom sketches of Trump.
“For the first time in history, we have a convicted felon running for president, and to take on this case, we need a resident who has spent her life prosecuting perpetrators like Donald Trump,” narrator Steven Zirnkilton said.
The spoof generated laughter and applause from the audience.
David Knowles
Rep. Jim Clyburn calls Project 2025 ‘Jim Crow 2.0’
In his speech to the Democratic National Convention on Monday, South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn likened Project 2025, the conservative blueprint that would transform government in the wake of a Republican victory in the presidential election, to policies from America’s segregationist past.
“While Trump falsely pleads ignorance of Project 2025, which in my opinion is Jim Crow 2.0, Kamala has been offering the American people enlightening proposals and visionary leadership,” Clyburn said.
Colin Campbell
Hillary Clinton: Harris will make history
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used her speech to portray Kamala Harris’s candidacy as a continuation of woman leaders like her who have sought higher office. “Every generation has carried the torch forward,” she said.
She pointed to Rep. Shirley Chisholm’s historic 1972 run for president, when she became the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s nod. Clinton recalled how in 1984 she brought her daughter to see Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman nominated by a major party for vice president.
And she pointed to her own run for the presidency in 2016.
“It was the honor of my life to accept our party’s nomination for president,” Clinton said. “Nearly 66 million Americans voted for a future where there are no ceilings on our dreams. And afterwards, we refused to give up on America. Millions marched. Many ran for office. We kept our eyes on the future. Well my friends, the future is here!”
Source: Yahoo News