Harris’s Speech Made for Television Audience: Convention Update
Jill Biden Dismisses Ads on Husband’s Acuity: Convention Update
(Bloomberg) -- Kamala Harris’s big speech ended with silence -- for a moment. The backdrop to Elizabeth Warren’s speech had a subtle Black Lives Matter shoutout. Hillary Clinton recalled her 2016 loss in her speech.
There are 76 days until the election.
Other Developments:
Kamala Harris Met With Distant Applause
As Kamala Harris finished the biggest speech of her life, she paused for applause. She got back silence.
The room in Wilmington’s Chase Center was filled with journalists who traditionally don’t respond openly to a politician’s speech.
But after a beat, Mary J. Blige’s “Work That” filled the room and cheering supporters in tiny rectangles filled the screen behind the podium. The California senator and newly minted Democratic vice presidential nominee clapped, danced and waved -- not to the people in the room but to the images on the wall. Photographers wove their way around the stage while 22 print journalist sat silently, phones up to capture the moment for social media.
Joe Biden, making an unannounced appearance, walked out blowing a kiss to Harris that shifted into a fist bump. Maskless, he stayed three yards away from Harris on stage, resisting his predilection for handshakes and hugs. Their spouses joined them and the couples hugged. Then, they waved, separately and together at the cameras, the press in the room and no one in particular.
The four walked backstage together where staff awaited. For the first time all night, Harris heard applause in person. -- Jennifer Epstein
Warren’s Backdrop Had a Subtle Shoutout to Black Lives Matter
The backdrop of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s speech had a reference to Black Lives Matter.
As Warren spoke in an early childhood education center in Springfield, Massachusetts, the letters B-L-M could be seen over her left shoulder on three cubbies where children keep their things.
Sharp-eyed viewers quickly spotted the shoutout.
After the speech, a Warren campaign account confirmed that it was intentional, noting other details hidden in the background, including a children’s mail carrier costume and numbers showing the date of the election and the number to text the Biden campaign.
Along with Kamala Harris and Mitt Romney, Warren is one of the few senators who went to a Black Lives Matter protest this summer, walking through one near the White House in June with her husband, Bruce Mann, and her dog, Bailey.
Clinton Recalls 2016 Loss as She Urges Voters to Turn Out (10:33 p.m.)
Clinton spoke Wednesday night at a Democratic National Convention where she could have been accepting her nomination for re-election if 80,000 votes had gone the other way.
Wearing a white pantsuit that recalled what she wore for her 2016 acceptance speech, Clinton made references to her own loss as she argued that a second Trump term would be worse.
“Remember back in 2016 when Trump asked what do you have to lose?” she said. “Well, now we know. Our health care, our jobs, our loved ones, our leadership in the world, and even our post office.”
Echoing former President Bill Clinton’s argument in his brief speech on Tuesday, she argued that Trump was not good at the job of being president. She also used her win in the popular vote to press people to turn out in November.
“And don’t forget: Joe and Kamala can win by 3 million votes and still lose,” she said. “Take it from me.”
Young American Speaks of Her Deported Mother (10:23 p.m.)
A two-minute video at the Democratic National Convention featured 11-year-old Estela Juarez, a Florida girl who wrote a letter Trump after her mother was forced to move to Mexico in the face of deportation proceedings in 2018 saying he had lost at least one vote because of his policies.
“Dear Donald Trump,” she read. “My mom is my best friend.”
Her father, a Marine, served in South America, Africa and Iraq, she said. “My dad thought you would protect military families so he voted for you in 2016, Mr. President. He says he won’t vote for you again after what you did to our family. Instead of protecting us, you tore our world apart.”
Estela’s letter was part of the Democrats’ focus on the impact of Trump administration policies on immigrant families. “Every day that passes you deport more moms and dads and take them away from kids like me,” she said. “We are an American family,” Estela wrote.
Convention Plays Up Chance Encounters With Biden (10:06 p.m.)
The Democratic convention again featured everyday Americans who interacted with Biden, as the campaign continued a long-running effort to draw a contrast with Trump over empathy.
In a one-and-a-half minute taped segment early in the night, a man named Kyle recalled a chance meeting with Biden when he was a congressional intern that ended with Biden talking on the phone for a half hour with his grandmother.
“As much as I feel like I got to know him in that moment, it feels like he knows us,” he said.
On Tuesday, Biden was nominated by, Jacquelyn Brittany, a security guard at the New York Times whose encounter with him in an elevator went viral last year.
With Biden unable to work the rope lines at rallies because of the coronavirus pandemic, the campaign has posted old clips of him interacting with voters and children.
Giffords Links Personal, Political Fight on Gun Violence (9:39 p.m.)
Giffords, who was shot in the head at a congressional event in 2011, spoke about gun violence on the third night of the convention.
In a one-and-a-half minute speech filmed in a single unbroken take, Giffords linked her personal fight to recover the ability to speak and walk to the movement to reduce gun violence that
“Words once came easily, today I struggle to speak,” she said. “But I have not lost my voice. America needs us to speak out, even when we have to fight to find the words.”
Giffords, considered to be a potential future senator in Arizona before the shooting, is married to former astronaut Mark Kelly, who is currently favored to win a Senate seat there. He did not appear in the video.
The short video also featured Giffords playing “My Country Tis of Thee” on the French horn, which she played as a teenager and has said she now plays regularly in order to challenge herself.
Kamala Harris to Bookend Third Night of Convention (9:21 p.m.)
Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris opened, and was set to close, the third night of the Democratic National Convention.
Early in the evening, Harris gave brief remarks about the importance of voting from backstage at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware.
As with other speakers at the convention, she warned of obstacles to voting this year, ranging from questions about mail delivery to reduced polling places because of a lack of volunteers during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think we need to ask ourselves, why don’t they want us to vote?” she said. “Why is there so much effort to silence our voices. And the answer is: When we vote, things change.”
Later, she’ll end the convention session as the vice presidential nominee, per tradition for the third night, with an acceptance speech.
Obama Says Trump Doesn’t Take Job Seriously (5:55 p.m.)
Obama plans to say in his Democratic National Convention speech that he hoped Trump would take the job seriously, but that his successor in the Oval Office has “shown no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.”
“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,” Obama plans to say, according to prepared remarks released by the party.
Obama is one of the speakers during the third night of Biden’s virtual nominating convention on Wednesday, speaking just before California Senator Kamala Harris, who will accept the nomination as Biden’s running mate.
The former president said in the remarks that when he began his search for vice president, he didn’t know he’d “end up finding a brother.” He plans to say while he knows most voters have already made up their minds, Biden “made me a better president” and is the best choice to lead the country because “he’s got the character and the experience to make us a better country.”
Melania Trump to Speak from the Rose Garden (5:32 p.m.)
First Lady Melania Trump will give her address to the Republican National Convention from the Rose Garden, according to a person familiar with the planning.
She announced in July that she will oversee a renovation of the iconic White House garden that will restore it to its original design from the Kennedy administration.
In recent weeks, the Rose Garden has also become a frequent location for the president’s press conferences because it is outdoors and less crowded, reducing the risk of spreading coronavirus.
The president’s announcement that he was considering the White House as a location for his acceptance speech sparked criticism that it would violate a law barring the use of government property for political purposes, but the Office of the Special Counsel noted that the law does not apply to the president and vice president. -- Justin Sink
Obama to Speak from Museum for the American Revolution (3:43 p.m.)
Obama will give his address to the Democratic National Convention from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, according to a person familiar with the planning.
Although the text of Wednesday’s speech has not been released, Obama cast the current political moment in historical terms in his eulogy for Representative John Lewis in July.
The civil rights activist’s life “vindicated the faith in our founding,” he said in the eulogy, “that idea that any of us ordinary people without rank or wealth or title or fame can somehow point out the imperfections of this nation, and come together, and challenge the status quo.”
He said that Lewis spent his life fighting “attacks on democracy ... that we are seeing circulate right now,” citing the closure of polling stations and “undermining the Postal Service in the run-up to an election.” -- Emma Kinery
Harris Woos Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus (3:14 p.m.)
Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris told the Democratic Asian American and Pacific Islander caucus that the Biden administration would increase their representation in government.
She pledged that Biden would appoint Asian-American and Pacific Islander judges and hire AAPI staffers throughout the federal government, noting that the Obama administration appointed more AAPI judges than all previous presidents combined.
The Biden campaign’s outreach to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders includes an agenda to prioritize prosecuting hate crimes, provide a road map to citizenship for Dreamers and reduce language barriers that prevent people from accessing government services.
Harris, whose mother immigrated from India, then said that when she accepts the nomination as the first Asian-American vice presidential nominee, “I do so knowing that I stand on the shoulders of the so many people who are on this call and those who came before us.”
Biden Team Won’t Say if He’s Had Coronavirus Test (2 p.m.)
Joe Biden’s campaign, which has embraced public health guidelines during the pandemic, won’t say whether the 77-year-old candidate has been tested for coronavirus.
Spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield said Wednesday that Democrats had been extremely strict in following safety protocols while putting on their virtual convention, but declined to say whether Biden or his running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, had been screened for the virus.
“I’m not going to get into specifics on whether the vice president or Senator Harris have been tested,” she said in a briefing for reporters.
Biden, who’s urged more testing and contact tracing to control the virus’s spread, has said he hasn’t been checked for the virus, most recently at an in-person campaign stop in Wilmington on July 28. He also said he’s been symptom-free. While he has made a limited number of public appearances, including at the U.S. Capitol to honor the late John Lewis, Biden has run a mostly virtual campaign, addressing supporters, donors and the media from the basement studio in his Delaware home. -- Bill Allison
Ted Cruz’s Convention Criticism Becomes Rallying Cry -- on the Left (1:37 p.m.)
Republican Senator Ted Cruz may have inadvertently reassured progressives Tuesday night.
In an appearance on Fox News discussing the second night of the convention, Cruz argued that a Biden win would be bad for Wall Street.
“If these guys win, we’re going to wake up in January with Elizabeth Warren as Treasury secretary,” he said.
The line was immediately applauded by many progressives on Twitter, who said they would love that outcome.
“Oh, thank you, Ted!” Warren responded in an interview with “Now This News.” “I appreciate the endorsement from Ted Cruz.”
Jill Biden’s Speech Gets Republican Praise (12:46 p.m.)
Jill Biden is garnering praise from some unlikely sources: conservatives.
The Democratic National Convention Tuesday night showcased the former second lady and potential future first lady.
“Tonight, Jill Biden did a very good job representing herself and Joe in the causes they believe in,” tweeted Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, an ardent Trump supporter. “She’s an outstanding person who has led a consequential life.”
Fox News’s Brit Hume also chimed in with some kind words.
“I think the speech tonight by Jill Biden was tremendously effective, in the sense that it didn’t have the hard, angry edge that we heard last night to a considerable extent from Michelle Obama,” Hume said.
Obama Will Highlight Biden’s Record in Speech (11:23 a.m.)
Obama plans to draw on his experience as Biden’s boss to make the case for why Democratic nominee should be elected, according to a preview of a speech the former president will deliver Wednesday night at the party convention.
Obama will highlight Biden’s record under his administration, said spokeswoman Katie Hill. She said he would explain why the Democratic nominee and his running mate, Kamala Harris, “possess the experience and character to lead us out of the ongoing economic and health care disasters that the current administration has blundered into.”
The former president will “talk about watching Joe’s success firsthand in helping to lead America out of a dire recession and jump-start our economy, expand health care for tens of millions of Americans, and restore our standing in the world,” Hill said.
She said Obama would also argue that this election is “too important to sit out” and would call on Americans to have a plan for casting their ballot despite “the cynical moves by the current administration and the Republican Party to discourage Americans from voting.”
“He’ll make a pointed case that democracy itself is on the line – along with the chance to create a better version of it,” Hill said.
Jill Biden Says Attacks on Her Husband’s Cognitive Acuity Are ‘Ridiculous’ (9:18 a.m.)
Jill Biden said Wednesday that any suggestion her husband is in cognitive decline was “ridiculous,” after Trump’s re-election campaign released an ad questioning the Democratic nominee’s mental acuity.
The ad juxtaposes videos of an exuberant Biden speaking four years ago with more recent clips where he appears to lose his train of thought. In an interview with NBC’s “Today Show,” Jill Biden said her husband is working constantly on his presidential campaign.
“Joe’s on the phone every single minute of the day talking to governors who are calling him and Nancy Pelosi,” Biden said. “He’s on the Zoom, he’s doing fundraisers, he’s doing briefings. He doesn’t stop from 9 in the morning until 11 at night, so that’s ridiculous.”
Questioning Biden’s sharpness is a frequent line of attack by Trump. In previous interviews, Jill Biden has rejected any notion that her husband has declined and pointed out that Biden, 77, is only a few years older than the incumbent president, 74.
Coming Up:
Hosted by actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Thursday’s virtual Democratic convention will feature speeches from Senators Cory Booker, Tammy Duckworth and Tammy Baldwin, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Biden and performances by John Legend and the Chicks.
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