UPDATED: Democaratic Convention 2024 US Election (23rd August)

[LionDen]

From a Australian website.

Welcome to our coverage of the Democratic National Convention in the United States.

Today marked the final day of the DNC, and that meant the focus was on Kamala Harris herself.

This was, undoubtedly, the most important speech of her political career. Tens of millions of Americans were watching; she will never get a better chance to impress so many potential voters at once.

There will be at least one presidential debate, of course, on September 10, and that will draw a similar audience, but on that night Ms Harris will have Donald Trump on stage next to her. Today she had clear, uncontested air to get her message across.

Read about the day’s events as they happened below.

[LionDen]

Aug 23, 2024

Rumours swirl over mystery DNC guest

OK fellow political junkies, here we are, the final day of the DNC.

It’s pretty much all about Kamala Harris’s speech today, which is why the line-up might look a little thin; no one is allowed to distract too much from the top speaker. Still, we have a decent mix of political stars and celebrities on the schedule.

On the political side of things, we’ll be hearing from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, a former astronaut.

Expect a warm reception for Mr Kelly’s wife, former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was shot and suffered a severe brain injury in a 2012 assassination attempt.

Ms Harris’s sister Maya, who has been deeply involved in her political campaigns, will also speak.

What of the celebrities? The Chicks (previously known as The Dixie Chicks) will sing the national anthem, P!NK is set to perform during primetime, and actress Eva Longoria, who’s long been a vocal Democrat, has a plum speaking slot.

The most eye-catching part of today’s schedule, though, is what’s not on it. There’s a conspicuous gap, and rumours are swirling that a surprise guest will appear.

A few names have been chucked about online, the most fanciful being Taylor Swift. Some folks are speculating the former Republican president George W. Bush might show up and endorse Ms Harris. It seems, though, that the mystery guest is in fact Beyonce.

CNN’s Jamie Gangel, citing a source “very familiar with the convention schedule”, says Bey is indeed the person in question, but her appearance could still fall through.

She read out a text from the source: “She’s coming. She’s not coming. She’s coming. I don’t think she’s coming. Wait, it may happen. Two minutes later, it may not happen.”

“So we don’t know. We really, really don’t know,” said Ms Gangel.

Sounds like someone, backstage, is in for a ruinously stressful few hours.

Beyonce would make sense as a DNC guest, given the Harris campaign has been using her song Freedom as a sort of anthem.

[LionDen]

Aug 23, 2024

Central Park Five to appear on stage

Another appearance worth watching: four members of the Central Park Five, who were wrongfully convicted of raping a jogger in New York in 1989, and were later exonerated.

Donald Trump, who was of course a leading celebrity figure in New York at the time, was a cheerleader for the teenage boys’ prosecution, and in a newspaper ad he called for them to receive the death penalty.

He was far from the only person who thought they were guilty, at the time. More notable perhaps is that Mr Trump has never apologised, even after the young men were exonerated.

[LionDen]

Aug 23, 2024

Elizabeth Warren lays into 'felon' Trump



Senator Elizabeth Warren, who ran against Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination in 2020, was the first big-name speaker of the evening.

The crowd greeted Ms Warren with a standing ovation, which actually brought her to tears.

“You know what I love most about Kamala Harris? Kamala Harris can’t be bought and she can’t be bossed around,” said Ms Warren when she eventually launched into her speech.

She praised Ms Harris’s response to the Global Financial Crisis (she was San Francisco’s district-attorney when the crisis struck, and soon afterwards became California’s attorney-general), saying she went after the banks and protected consumers while “Donald was trying to make money off people losing their homes”.

“Kamala stepped up. She enforced the law, she stood up to giant banks, and she delivered billions of dollars of help for families. That is the difference between a criminal and a prosecutor,” said Ms Warren.

“We need to make life more affordable for working people. Donald Trump, the felon, has no plans to lower costs for families. He doesn’t know how, and basically, he doesn’t really care. When did he ever fill up a gas tank or worry about a grocery bill? The only bills are worries about are from his criminal defence lawyers. But Kamala cares, deep down.”

[LionDen]

Aug 23, 2024

Sharpton introduces the Central Park Five



Reverend Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist turned TV and radio host, is speaking before the aforementioned Central Park Five come on stage.

He said he’d known Donald Trump for 40 years, and “only once in that time did he take a position on racial issues”.

“He spent a small fortune on full-page ads calling for the execution of five innocent young teenagers,” Rev Sharpton said.

“I’m going to bring them out in a minute, and you’ll hear from them tonight, because they were not executed. They’re here to continue to fight.

“It was there that I saw Trump love to fan racial flames. On the other side is a woman who I walked with in Selma, Alabama. Kamala Harris spoke to me that day about unity, and passing bills.

“I see a candidate who, with Joe Biden, brought leaders to the White House to confront violent hatred. Running against a man who said neo-Nazis in Charlottesville were ‘fine people’.”

Mr Trump would dispute that characterisation of his remarks after the white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, and the clashes with counter-protesters. Here is what he said: “You had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. You had people in that group – excuse me. I saw the same pictures as you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very important statue.”

The statue in question was one of Robert E. Lee, the top confederate general in the US Civil War, which was eventually won by the Union, led by President Abraham Lincoln.

[LionDen]

Aug 23, 2024

'He wanted us dead': Central Park Five slam Trump

Reverend Al Sharpton wrapped up his speech by introducing the Central Park Five – men who, as teenagers, were wrongfully convicted of raping a jogger in New York. Donald Trump took out full-page ads in newspapers at the time, calling for them to receive the death penalty.

“They were known as the Central Park Five. Now they’re the ‘Exonerated Five’,” Rev Sharpton said as four of the men in question emerged on stage: Dr Yusef Salaam, now a New York City councilman, Korey Wise, Raymond Santana, and Kevin Richardson.

“Thirty-five years ago, my friends and I were imprisoned for a crime we did not commit,” Mr Wise told the DNC audience.

“Every day, as we walked into the courtroom, people screamed at us, threatened us, because of Donald Trump. He spent $85,000 on a full-page ad in The New York Times, calling for our execution.

“We were innocent kids, but we served a (combined) total of 41 years in prison. Reverend Al Sharpton stood with us; now I’m proud to stand with him today.

“Vice President Kamala Harris has also worked to make things fairer. I know she will do the same as president. And I approve that message.”

He made way, at that point, for Dr Salaam.

“I love these guys. These are my brothers,” said Dr Salaam.

“Forty-five wanted us unalive. He wanted us dead. Today we are exonerated, because the actual perpetrator confessed, and DNA proved it.”

(Donald Trump was the 45th US president.)

“That guy says he still stands by the original guilty verdict. He dismisses the scientific evidence, rather than admit he was wrong,” said Dr Salaam.

“He has never changed, and he never will. That man thinks that hate is the animating force in America. It is not. We have the constitutional right to vote, in fact it is a human right. So let us use it. I want you to walk with us, I want you to march with us, I want you to vote with us.

“Together, on November 5, we will usher in Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, into the White House.

“When they see us, American will finally say goodbye to that hateful man. We will say what I have long said after seven long years of incarceration: free. Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.”

Those last words were a callback to Dr Martin Luther King’s famous speech in Washington.

[LionDen]

Aug 23, 2024

Romney is not the 'mystery guest'




The anti-Trump Republican senator Mitt Romney, who was also the party’s presidential nominee in 2012, has clarified that he is not the mystery guest everyone’s speculating about.

Mr Romney was the only Republican in the Senate to vote guilty in both of Mr Trump’s impeachment trials. In 2012 he lost to incumbent president Barack Obama, albeit with a higher share of the vote than Mr Trump managed when he beat Hillary Clinton four years later.

“Contrary to fake news posts, I am not the surprise guest at the DNC tonight,” Mr Romney posted on social media, tongue firmly in cheek.

“My guess is that it will be Beyonce or Taylor Swift. So disappointing, I know!”

The signs continue to point towards Beyonce.

As previously mentioned, we are going to hear from one Republican later: former congressman Adam Kinzinger. But he hardly carries the heft of a former Republican presidential nominee.

[LionDen]

Aug 23, 2024

NBA superstar makes surprise appearance




Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry, the NBA’s all-time leading three-point shooter, has urged Americans to vote for Kamala Harris.

Mr Curry was not present in Chicago for the DNC, but did film a video announcing his support for the Vice President (pointedly wearing the gold medal he just won for the US at the Olympics).

“What’s up everybody?” he began, before bringing up the Americans’ Olympic campaign.

“That unity on and off the court reminded us all that together, we can do all things, and continue to inspire the world.

“That’s why I believe that Kamala as president could bring that unity back, and continue to move our country forward. This is about preserving hope for our country.

“I got to visit Kamala with my team last year. I can tell you one thing: I knew then, and I definitely know now, the Oval Office suits her well. So in the words of Michelle Obama: do something! Go vote!

“It’s been an honour for me to represent our country. It’s an honour to support Kamala.”

[LionDen]

Aug 23, 2024

Kerry Washington opens primetime proceedings




The primetime line-up started with The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks) singing the national anthem. The crowd responded with a chant of “USA! USA!”. All very American.

After that actress Kerry Washington, the night’s celebrity host, came on stage.

“Now, I know that as I stand here there are folks, on social media, saying ‘Go back to your TV show. Shut up and act!’ But I am not here tonight as an actor,” Ms Washington said.

“I am here as a mother, as a daughter, as a proud union member. I am here as the granddaughter of immigrants, as a black woman descended from enslaved people. I am here tonight because I am an American and a voter, and because we the people are stronger when all our voices are heard.”

Ms Washington proceeded to take a video, for social media, of the audience repeating the Harris campaign’s refrain: “When we fight, we win.” And then she took aim at people who “struggle, or pretend to struggle” to pronounce the candidate’s name.

“Confusion is understandable. Disrespect is not,” she said.

“So tonight, we are going to help everyone get it right.”

Ms Washington brought two of Ms Harris’s young nieces out on stage to help teach the crowd. They broke Kamala into two parts: “comma” and “la”. Which actually doesn’t work if you don’t pronounce comma with an American accent.

Anyway it’s “KAH-MA-LA”. Emphasis on the first syllable.

That whole segment was a clear shot at Donald Trump and some other Republicans – not all – who appear to be mispronouncing Ms Harris’s name on purpose.

[LionDen]

Aug 23, 2024

Harris's stepdaughter lights up the stage




Next up were Kamala Harris’s stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, niece Meena Harris, and goddaughter Helena Hudlin, who took the stage together.

“I grew up in Oakland, California, in a house full of extraordinary women: my mum, my grandma and my auntie, who showed me the meaning of service, helping her sister, a 17-year-old single mum, fighting for justice for the American people, and still cooking Sunday family dinner,” Meena said.

“She guided me. Now she’s guiding my own children. And I know she will guide our country forward.”

Ella, who is co-parented by Ms Harris, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and her mother, Mr Emhoff’s ex-wife Kerstin, was up next.

“Kamala came into my life when I was 14, famously a very easy time for a teenager,” she quipped.

“Like a lot of young people, I didn’t always understand what I was feeling. But no matter what, Kamala was there for me. She was patient, caring, and always took me seriously. She’s never stopped listening to me, and she’s not going to stop listening to all of us.”

Ella, her brother and their mother have all been vocally supportive of Ms Harris’s political career.

Helena said Ms Harris’s “advice means everything”.

“Whether it’s pursuing my passions, making an impact, or finding hope when the world doesn’t feel so hopeful. She taught me that making a difference means giving your whole heart,” she said.