Joe Biden Pops Up in Convention Cameos: Convention Update
Trump Takes Aim at Michelle Obama’s Speech: Convention Update
(Bloomberg) -- Democratic nominee Joe Biden kept popping up on the second night of the convention. Delegates gave a virtual tour of America during the roll call vote. And former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, narrated a video highlighting Biden’s long career.
There are 77 days until the election.
Other Developments:
Biden Pops Up in Convention Cameos
Biden had a few cameos on the second night of the Democratic convention.
After the roll call confirmed that he was officially the party’s nominee, Biden briefly thanked the delegates as he celebrated with his family in a school library decorated with red, white and blue balloons.
“Thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart, thank you all,” he said as his family crashed the scene with party poppers to add a taste of the traditional streamers and confetti.
When his wife, Jill, finished her speech at the end of the night, Biden unexpectedly walked into the frame in her former classroom at Brandywine High School in Delaware, where she was speaking, to give her a hug and introduce himself as “Jill Biden’s husband.”
“You can see why she’s the love of my life and the rock of our family,” he said. “She never gives herself much credit but the truth is she’s the strongest person I know. She has a backbone like a ramrod. She loves fiercely, cares deeply, nothing stops her when she sets her mind to getting something right.”
Delegates Gave a Tour of America in Roll Call (10:49 p.m.)
In a video roll call vote, the states and territories gave a virtual tour of America, showcasing local landmarks from American Samoa to Wyoming.
Some were so obvious you could have guessed them.
Michigan’s delegates spoke in front of a truck and two sedans made in Detroit. Missouri’s spoke in view of the St. Louis Gateway Arch. California and Hawaii delegates were on a beach. Delegates from Iowa, Kansas, Maine and Montana filmed their spots on farms.
Delaware’s delegates spoke from an Amtrak station named for Biden, while Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey spoke from Biden’s hometown of Scranton, in front of the house where the family once lived.
Some used props. Montana’s delegate spoke in front of a small herd of cows grazing in a field. Maryland’s delegates stood next to a statue of Frederick Douglass.
And the District of Columbia tweaked Trump, as its delegate, Mayor Muriel Bowser, spoke from Black Lives Matter Plaza outside the White House.
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Highlight Biden’s Long Career (10:16 p.m.)
Carter, who at 95 is the oldest living president, joined his wife, Rosalynn, to endorse Biden in a video that showcases his long career in politics.
“When I ran for president in 1976, Joe Biden was my first and most effective supporter in the Senate,” Carter says in a video shown at the convention. “For decades, he has been my loyal and dedicated friend.”
The video featured pictures and videos of Biden over the years, including black-and-white photographs of his early days in politics in the 1970s.
At an event last September, Carter said that he hopes there’s an “age limit” on the presidency, saying he doesn’t believe he could have handled the presidency at age 80. Biden would be 78 when inaugurated, while President Donald Trump will be 74 on Inauguration Day.
Democratic Rising Stars Spliced Together Into One Keynote (10 p.m.)
Democrats showcased a diverse pool of young rising stars Tuesday by editing their comments together into a unique keynote address headlined by voting rights activist Stacey Abrams.
With Black, Hispanic, Asian and openly gay elected officials from around the country, the party made a pointed statement about its future.
“In a democracy we do not elect saviors. We cast our ballots for those who see our struggles and pledge to serve,” Abrams said in support of Biden.
“Our choice is clear, a steady experienced public servant or a man who only knows how to deny and distract.”
In a sign of the technical challenges caused by the coronavirus, the speakers’ taped remarks varied from well-produced setups to shaky selfies.
Colin Powell Joins Republican Roster at Biden’s Convention (8:54 p.m.)
Joining the growing crowd of Republicans to show up at the Democratic Convention, former secretary of State Colin Powell will speak Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the planning.
Powell, who served Republican presidents but has publicly backed the Democratic nominee in every presidential election held after George W. Bush’s campaign in 2004, endorsed Biden in June, praising his record in government and telling CNN he “cannot in any way support President Trump this year.”
Powell is the latest notable Republican to speak at the convention, stirring complaints from the party’s progressive wing, which has called for more airtime for up-and-comers like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Powell gave well-received speeches at the 1996 and 2000 Republican national conventions, leading to regular mentions as a potential presidential or vice presidential candidate.
Tom Hanks Defends Old-School NASA Approach (8:02 p.m.)
Hanks defended the government-run moon missions, saying “nobody made money” off of them.
After being introduced by Biden as a “real student of history” at a low-dollar fundraiser Tuesday afternoon, the “Apollo 13” star briefly reminisced about the Apollo program.
“Nobody made money doing that -- they were just doing it to show the great potential of the American promise,” he said.
The government-run Apollo program is much different from today’s partly privatized model, with NASA paying private space flight providers such as Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. or SpaceX.
Started in 2006, the privatized approach accelerated under President Barack Obama and came to fruition under Trump, who once put a model of a SpaceX rocket on the table during a cabinet meeting.
Biden has not said much about where he would take the space program, but the Democratic platform being approved at the convention doesn’t call for any major changes.
Cindy McCain Set to Appear in Video at Democratic Convention (6:38 p.m.)
Trump has said he was not a “fan” of John McCain, but the late senator’s widow, Cindy, will be showing the country how her husband was a fan of his rival.
The longtime senator and 2008 Republican nominee, who died in 2018, is the subject of a video about his friendship with Biden set to air at the convention on Tuesday.
The video is narrated by his widow, Cindy McCain.
President Donald Trump once infamously said that he did not like McCain and preferred “people who weren’t captured,” referring to the five years the former Navy pilot spent as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, where he was tortured.
The Democratic convention featured four Republicans endorsing Biden on Monday night.
Jill Biden Will Use Teaching Career to Highlight Pandemic’s Effects (5:29 p.m.)
Jill Biden will use her career as a teacher to criticize the response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has students across the country learning remotely instead of in person.
Biden will speak to the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night from the classroom at Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware, where she taught English in the early 1990s.
“You can hear the anxiety that echoes down empty hallways,” she says in an excerpt released ahead of the speech. “There’s no scent of new notebooks or freshly waxed floors. The rooms are dark and the bright young faces that should fill them are confined to boxes on a computer screen.”
Biden, who taught at a community college while her husband was serving as vice president in the Obama administration, has said she will continue teaching if he is elected to the top job.
“I said, ‘I know I can do both jobs,’” she says in a video released Tuesday morning, recalling that people said it would be “insane” to do so. -- Emma Kinery and Ryan Teague Beckwith
Voter Registration Website Saw an Uptick on Monday (4:14 p.m.)
A website that allows people to register to vote or request an absentee ballot online saw an uptick in traffic Monday.
Vote.org, a nonpartisan group that is running voter registration drives through the fall, had about 50,000 more visits than usual, according to Jake Levine, who works on its engineering team.
The uptick came as the first night of the Democratic National Convention raised awareness of the upcoming election, while its speakers urged Americans to register to vote, vote early in person if possible or request a mail-in ballot soon.
Wearing a necklace that said VOTE, former First Lady Michelle Obama argued during her taped speech Monday night that “folks who know they cannot win fair and square at the ballot box are doing everything they can to stop us from voting.”
Voter registration drives have largely switched to online this year, as Americans have avoided malls, colleges have offered classes online and DMVs have been shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2016, 33% of Americans registered while renewing their drivers license, while only 17% did so online.
Delaware Delegates to Put Biden Over the Top (1:55 p.m.)
Delegates from Biden’s home state of Delaware will have the honor of giving him enough delegates to become the Democratic nominee for president on Tuesday.
Although the roll call is conducted in alphabetical order, Delaware will defer its vote until the former vice president is close to having the needed 1,991 delegates and then put him over the top.
The Democratic National Committee, which changed to a virtual format in response to the coronavirus pandemic, said delegates from 57 states and territories will cast their ballots by video linkup from “businesses, inside living rooms, and in front of iconic landmarks in cities and towns nationwide.”
Delegations from each state will have 30 seconds to say how many delegates they are awarding to which candidate. The states designate local leaders to make their announcement.
South Carolina, for example, will be represented by Jamie Harrison who is challenging Republican Lindsey Graham for his Senate seat. Khizr Khan, the gold star father who was criticized by Donald Trump after speaking at the 2016 convention, will cast Virginia’s vote.
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter died in the Parkland school shooting, will represent Florida and talk about the need for gun reform. Tom Vilsack, the Secretary of Agriculture under the Obama administration, will represent Iowa and talk about the recent storms devastating the state.
Trump Targets Michelle Obama’s Speech (8:07 a.m.)
Trump took aim at Michelle Obama on Tuesday in an early morning flurry of tweets responding to the first lady’s speech to the Democratic National Convention the night before.
“Somebody please explain to @MichelleObama that Donald J. Trump would not be here, in the beautiful White House, if it weren’t for the job done by your husband, Barack Obama,” Trump tweeted. He went on to level unfounded allegations that his predecessor had engaged in “treason” and “corruption” and had spied on his campaign.
Michelle Obama closed out the first night of the Democratic convention with an unusually pointed address blasting Trump as unfit for office because of his handling of the coronavirus and other issues.
“Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country,” she said. “He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us.”
“It is what it is,” she said, adopting a phrase Trump used to describe the state of the pandemic. -- Max Berley
Coming Up:
Hosted by actress Kerry Washington, Wednesday’s virtual Democratic convention will feature speeches from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Elizabeth Warren, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Representative Gabrielle Giffords, among others.
Wednesday’s keynote speeches will come from vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama.
Entertainers Billie Eilish and Jennifer Hudson will perform on Wednesday as well.
The Democrats are creating watch parties tailored to different constituencies. On Wednesday, former mayor and presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg will join one hosted by Young Americans for Biden. Campaign Co-Chair Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will join Miami Shores Mayor Crystal Wager and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer for another.
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