Obamas, Democrats Lay Out ‘A Bold Vision’

UPDATED: 10:46 p.m. ET

Michelle Obama has taken the stage and is delivering her speech before an adoring crowd that gave her a minuteslong standing ovation.

UPDATED: 10:35 a.m. ET

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff shared a touching story about how he met Kamala Harris as part of a larger, very personal speech that was greeted warmly. Emhoff shared anecdotes about his upbringing and brilliantly wove in a mention of his wife’s laugh — the same laugh Republicans try to mock — and said how much he love it.

 

UPDATED: 9:55 p.m. ET

Iconic business leader Kenneth Chenault made the case for voting for Kamala Harris by endorsing her economic plan and contrasting it with the economic policies of Donald Trump that reward the rich.

“Kamala Harris will navigate this country through the inevitable challenges while also leading with the hope and value that America was founded on,” Chenault said before adding later: “This is why I believe Kamala Harris should be the next president of the United States.”

UPDATED: 9:45 p.m. ET

Bernie Sanders on Tuesday night became the DNC’s first speaker to officially call for a ceasefire in Gaza in no uncertain terms.

Sanders’ call for peace came one night after pro-Paletinian protesters briefly interrupted President Joe Biden’s DNC speech.

Despite the outsize number of Black officials at the DNC — from audience members to state delegates to elected Democrats — none of the DNC calls for a ceasefire have come from them. There has long been a reciprocated solidarity between Palestinian people and Black people in the United States, even with the U.S. government’s longstanding support of Israel.

Critics have said Kamala Harris needs to address the conflict in Gaza during her speech on Thursday night. That said, analysts have noticed a shift in Harris’ shift tone on the topic, suggesting she could say the right thing during her DNC speech.

UPDATED: 9:37 p.m. ET

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent politician, spoke at the DNC Tuesday night and drew attention to the COVID-19 pandemic and placed blame squarely on Donald Trump for mismanaging the public health emergency. Conversely, Sanders thanked President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for “effectively” delivering for the American people.

Despite those facts, the overwhelming response to Sanders on social media was to post the viral images of him wearing those iconic knitted mittens at Biden’s inauguration.

 

Sanders’ appearance at the DNC came eight years after the Democratic Party effectively elbowed him out of the presidential primary race against Hillary Clinton in 2016.

UPDATED: 9:25 p.m. ET

Senate Minority Leader and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer during his DNC speech Tuesday night placed a spotlight on the racial diversity of the latest slate of U.S. Senate candidates, saying that more than half of the people on that list of people running for that office are people of color.

Schumer, who is Jewish, also reminded people of Trump’s apparent allegiance to white supremacists and antisemites.

However, Schumer notably did not mention the conflict in Gaza where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, many of them women and children.

UPDATED: 9:15 p.m. ET

In a surprise, Vice President Kamala Harris was shown live via satellite from a rally in Milwaukee. Harris acknowledged the completed roll call, accepted the DNC’s invitation to formally accept the democratic nomination on Thursday, and thanked her supporters.

It is apparently the first time such a thing has happened at a political convention.

Tuesday was Harris’ second straight unexpected appearance at the DNC, suggesting she may again appear on Wednesday before she will for sure arrive on Thursday to accept the Democratic nomination.

UPDATED 9:05 p.m. ET

During California’s roll call, rapper Kendrick Lamar’s ubiquitous hit song “They Not Like Us” blared in the background — the latest signal that Lamar not only won but continues to win — by a landslide — his battle against rival rapper Drake.

 

 

 

UPDATED: 8:55 p.m. ET

Aside from this roll call primarily featuring Black and brown people, women and other minorities, they’re accompanied by a really Black soundtrack supplied by DJ Cassidy. As such, Beyonce’s hit song “Texas Hold ‘Em” was playing as the Lone Star state’s delegates cast their votes for Kamala Harris.

The song set off a firestorm on social media.

 

 

Beyonce is rumored to be making an appearance at the DNC this week.

UPDATED: 8:50 p.m. ET

Not for nothing, a good number of people speaking for each state’s delegations are Black people or people of color. It’s a clear contrast with the optics at the Republican National Convention last month.

Even New Hampshire, which boasts 10% of its minuscule population as identifying as Black, featured a Black woman as its primary speaker announcing the votes its delegation would cast.

UPDATED: 8:40 p.m. ET

Legendary filmmaker Spike Lee joined the New York delegation in casting its 298 votes for Kamala Harris in another state flexing its star power.

Meanwhile, the DNC DJ, DJ Cassidy, is playing state-specific songs as each state participates in the roll call. Many of the songs he’s playing are hip-hop, including North Carolina casting their votes as Petey Pablo’s song “Raise Up” played in the background.

UPDATED: 8:20 p.m.

There is tons of star power on hand for the DNC on Night 2.

Case and point: During Louisiana’s roll call, actor Wendell Pierce joined the state’s delegation to cast its votes for Kamala Harris.

The audience roared with applause when the New Orleans native introduced himself.

UPDATED: 8:06 p.m.

Atlanta rapper Lil Jon surprised the crowd by performing a brief medley of his hit songs while introducing Georgia’s delegation during roll call.

DJ Cassidy, meanwhile, is spinning hip-hop songs like the iconic “900 Number” by the late DJ Mark the 45 King.

UPDATED: 7:55 p.m. ET

The DNC conducted its roll call, defined by the DNC as “all 57 delegations will deliver remarks and cast ceremonial votes for Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz as the Democratic nominees for President and Vice President of the United States, a powerful symbol of the party’s diversity, unity, and overwhelming support for the Harris-Walz ticket.”

This year, though, despite its historic nature, the roll call was symbolic because Harris was already formally nominated as the Democrat’s presidential candidate earlier this month.

UPDATED: 7:45 p.m. ET

The DNC’s house band is rocking again following a brief photo shoot of the audience.

And judging from the reaction on social media, not only are the folk at the DNC enjoying it but so are folks elsewhere.

 

UPDATED: 7:18 p.m. ET

Kenneth Stribling, retired Teamster from Milwaukee and the past president of the National Committee to Protect Pensions told the DNC how he had to fight Donald Trump’s administration while his pension was being threatened. He said he organized a nationwide grassroots movement for more than six years.

But once Biden was elected, Stribling said, Biden’s signature American Rescue Plan was enacted in legislation that he said saved pensions and secured retirements for many.

“They got it done without one single Republican vote in Congress,” tribling said. “They saved over 1 million pensions including 33,000 from Wisconsin.”

It was the latest show of union support at the DNC for Harris, who on Monday had six labor union president pledge their support.

UPDATED: 7:05 p.m. ET

A construction worker and then former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham are among the former Trump supporters who are speaking to the DNC Tuesday night. Both admitted the errors in their previous ways and publicly pledgied their support for Kamala Harris. The duo followed a brief video montage of Trump’s gaffes and contradictory statements.

UPDATED: 7:00 p.m. ET

There’s an all-Black band at the DNC playing funk music in between speaker and performance. As the television cameras pan across the crowd, it’s apparent they’re enjoying themselves to the tunes as they dance and have a good time.

UPDATED: 6:55 p.m. ET

Chicago native and rapper/actor Common performed the song “Fortunate,” an inspirational single off his new album with hip-hop producer Pete Rock. The audience didn’t appear to be a hip-hop crowd, but they cheered Common all the same as he dropped positive bars of rhymes in front of his hometown crowd.

Common even incorporated Kamala Harris’ name into one of his rhymes.

UPDATED: 6:50 p.m. ET

Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta used his time to speak at the DNC to address the irony of Project 2025 — a 900+ page book and “plan to drag us backward” — being embraced by the same Republicans who have rallied behind efforts to ban books in the U.S.

Kenyatta, who is the first openly gay candidate of color to win a state house primary in Pennsylvania, ended his speech by urged everybody to support Kamala Harris a the next president of the United States.

UPDATED: 6:45 p.m. ET

Superstar singer Patti LaBelle opened the second night of the DNC with a performance.

Original story:

The second day of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) comes on the heels of a hard act to follow after Day 1 saw President Joe Biden pass the proverbial Democratic torch to his vice president, Kamala Harris, as she seeks to become the first Black and Asian president of the United States.

The entire United Center in Chicago was eager, engaged and energetic as a parade of Democrats took the stage to explain the urgency of Harris’ candidacy and why America can’t “go back” to a Donald Trump presidency.

MORE: The Blackest DNC Takeaways As Biden Passes The Democratic Torch To Kamala Harris

It’s a safe bet to expect more of the same, and then some, as another crop of influential speakers make their pleas to the American public.

And while the list of impressive speakers could include a number of surprises, those who are already confirmed include Harris’ husband and second gentleman Doug Emhoff; Democratic Illinois Congresswoman Sen. Tammy Duckworth; Republican mayor of Mesa, Arizona, John Giles; New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham; Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who was reported as being on Harris’ shortlist of running mates; Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders; and Senate Majority leader and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer.

However, two other people are later to appear and are expected to receive the loudest of ovations: Former President Barack Obama and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama.

Each night of the DNC carries a different theme, and Tuesday’s is “A Bold Vision for America’s Future.”

A roll call vote that typically is used to formally nominate the party’s preferred candidate will also take place Tuesday night. The vote will be in name only as Harris was already formally nominated by Democrats earlier this month.

On Monday, Congresswoman Maxine Waters was among an impressive list of Black women leaders who each took to the stage to make the case for Harris’ candidacy while also drawing a stark contrast with Trump.

Later this week, Exonerated Five member and New York City councilman Yusef Salaam is expected to speak at the DNC as well.

There is a deep significance there as Salaam was among the five Black and brown teenagers falsely accused of raping a white woman in Central Park in the 1980s. Back then, Trump took out a full-page ad in a newspaper calling for the teenagers to receive the death penalty.

Decades later and Salaam could have a full circle moment at the DNC.

SEE ALSO:

DNC: Democratic Leaders Push For Deeper Connections With Black Male Voters

Tan Suit: Kamala Harris Channels Her Inner Obama With Wardrobe Choice For DNC’s Opening Night