By The Associated Press
The Democratic National Convention began on Monday in Chicago, with roughly 50,000 people expected to arrive in the Windy City. That includes thousands of anti-war activists demonstrating near the United Center.
President Joe Biden is the headline speaker for the first evening. Later this week, Vice President Kamala Harris will officially accept the party’s nomination.
Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
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Senator Schumer says he received ‘hundreds’ of calls saying Biden should step down
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that he received calls from “hundreds” of people telling him that Joe Biden should step down after the presidential debate in June.
“I thought we ought to do it privately if people wanted to do it,” Schumer said at a Politico event about Democrats’ calls for him to step down. “I thought it would be both more effective and more honorable.”
Union leaders line up behind Harris
Democrats want to show voters that they’re with workers, drawing on labor union support for the opening night of the convention.
“We are all in for Kamala Harris because Kamala Harris has always been all in for us,” said April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU.
Verrett was among the group of union leaders who took to the stage to counter the courting of blue-collar workers by Trump, who invited the head of the Teamsters to speak at the Republican National Convention. Teamsters President Sean O’Brien was not among the union leaders speaking at the Democratic convention on Monday.
The crowd waved “UNION YES!” signs as the leaders spoke. Most union households have backed Democrats, helping the party win in key states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in 2020.
Liz Shuler, head of the AFL-CIO, said that Trump’s plans were “a CEO’s dream, but a worker’s nightmare.”
Rep. Robert Garcia shares his family’s immigration story
California Rep. Robert Garcia delivered his family story of immigrating to the U.S. and becoming a citizen, seeking to paint a different vision of patriotism to that touted by the GOP.
“I am a proud immigrant who came to the United States as a young child. We grew up poor, English was our second language and we often, like many immigrant families, struggled to get by,” Garcia said.
Garcia called the day he became a citizen “the proudest day of my life.” He recounted his upbringing, which was at times characterized by hardship.
“She believed in the American Dream,” Garcia said of his mother, who Garcia said “taught me to love this country.”
“She taught me that real American patriotism is not about screaming and yelling ‘America First,’” but instead, “loving your country so much that you want to help the people in your country,” Garcia told the crowd.
FACT CHECK: Trump, COVID-19 and bleach injections
Rep. Robert Garcia, of California, claimed that former President Trump “told us to inject bleach into our bodies” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s an overstatement. Rather, Trump asked whether it would be possible to inject disinfectant into the lungs.
“And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute,” he said at an April 2020 press conference. “And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that, so that you’re going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me. So, we’ll see, but the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute. That’s pretty powerful.”
Democrats want to remind voters that the COVID-19 pandemic began during Trump’s presidency
It’s been four years since the pandemic shut down the United States — and Democrats are trying to tie the crisis to Trump’s presidency.
The convention showed a video montage of Trump commenting on the coronavirus pandemic as president, as the hall echoed with boos. It included a separate video featuring Rich Logis, a former Trump voter who rejected Trump over his handling of the pandemic. The Democrats noted that the economy recovered under President Biden as vaccinations allowed offices, schools and public spaces to reopen.
“He took the COVID crisis and turned it into a catastrophe,” said Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill. “We can never let him be our president again.”
Last month’s Republican convention largely eschewed mention of the pandemic, framing Trump’s presidency as a period of prosperity that was subsequently undone by the Biden administration.
Peggy Flanagan could be the first Native woman governor — if Harris is elected
The Democratic convention’s co-chair, Minnesota’s Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, could soon make history as the first Native woman to govern a state. The prospect led to cheers among the crowd, as it would depend on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz winning the vice presidency as Kamala Harris’ running mate.
Flanagan is a citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe.
She focused her remarks on electing Harris and Walz, saying, “He and Harris have spent their lives fighting for you, for your family, for your future.”
Who’s speaking tonight?
Biden has the top billing Monday night, but there are other big names on the speakers list.
Also expected is Hillary Clinton, who was her party’s first woman nominee in 2016. Harris is the second.
Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, one of Biden’s top congressional allies is also expected, as is New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Another name of note among Monday night’s speakers is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat in the House who was supportive of Sanders’ candidacy in 2020 but has since backed Biden, even arguing against him departing the race earlier this year.
Who is Fannie Lou Hamer?
Multiple speakers have mentioned Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights activist who gave a landmark speech at the Democratic Convention in 1964.
Hamer was a former sharecropper and a leader of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, a racially integrated group that challenged the seating of an all-white Mississippi delegation at the 1964 DNC.
Her televised testimony to the credentials committee in Atlantic City, New Jersey, mesmerized the nation and shone light on the violence inflicted on Hamer and others as they worked to secure rights that were supposed to be guaranteed by the Constitution.
Hamer spoke on Aug. 22, 1964 — exactly 60 years before Kamala Harris is scheduled to accept the Democratic nomination and become the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to be the presidential nominee of a major party.
Sen. Sanders defends his support for Biden’s presidential candidacy
Sen. Bernie Sanders, who stood by President Biden over the summer even as many Democrats called for him to step aside, defended his support for the president at a Politico event Monday.
“Did I think (Biden) was a great campaigner? No. But I think he was an excellent president,” the Vermont lawmaker said.
He added that while Vice President Harris is “not his best friend,” he sees his former colleague as a strong campaigner and the “potential to be an excellent president.”
Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson honored
The opening of the Democratic convention recognized Jesse Jackson, the civil rights activist and Democratic presidential candidate in 1984 and 1988.
Jackson, 82, entered the stage in a wheelchair, holding up both thumbs up in triumph to a cheering crowd. The ordained Baptist pastor did not speak to the convention.
Multiple speakers gave shoutouts to Jackson, who was also the subject of a video broadcast at the event’s hall. The video noted that Vice President Harris was “standing on the shoulder of giants” such as Jackson.
Both the Democratic and Republican national conventions recognized America’s native peoples
Both the DNC and RNC included what’s known as a “land acknowledgment” that recognized the stewardship of the land by indigenous peoples and tribes.
At the Democratic convention in Chicago, the acknowledgment was delivered by Zach Pahmahmie and Lorrie Melchior, who are both part of the tribal council of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.
At the Republican convention last month in Milwaukee, James Crawford of the Forest County Potawatomi Executive Council gave the land acknowledgment.
Party activists held a forum on the plight of the Palestinian people
With Vice President Harris now leading the party, there are some indicators at the DNC that Harris is taking assertive steps to ease the tension between the party and the protest movement in support of the Palestinian people.
In what organizers called a first, party activists were given space at the convention to hold a forum to discuss the plight of the Palestinian people, who have been under Israeli bombardment for months, as well as share deeply personal — and often heartrending stories — about family members lost in the conflict.
Though their core demands — a dramatic change in U.S. foreign policy over the war — remain unmet, the decision to allow activists to hold a forum amounted to the offering of an olive branch by Harris. And it’s one that many doubted Biden would have extended if he were still the nominee.
James Zogby, a panelist and the founder of the Arab American Institute, acknowledged that there was still discontent over the Democratic Party’s handling of the war in Gaza. But he said the forum was nonetheless a first.
“It is not the prize. The prize is a change in policy,” Zogby said. “But what is historic here is we are having an officially sanctioned panel to talk about it.”
Night 1 of the DNC has begun
The Democratic National Convention has started with delegates still filtering into Chicago’s United Center.
The gathering opened with remarks shortly after 6:30 p.m. central time by Minyon Moore, chair of the convention committee. Moore called President Biden, the evening’s main speaker, a true patriot.
Jaime Harrison, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, noted to applause the historical moment in that he and Moore are both Black, as is the party’s nominee, Vice President Harris.
Several protesters have been detained
A group of several dozen activists, who had separated from a larger march advocating for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, were removed from a restricted area by police, including those led by Superintendent Larry Snelling.
Police wearing helmets with masks attached formed a line along a fence, which had been previously breached and still had several panels missing, while some activists shouted at them. Several protesters who had managed to get through the fence were detained and handcuffed by the police.
‘When this over, the work begins’
Johnson of the NAACP expressed concern at rhetoric from former President Trump and other Republicans calling into question the security or legitimacy of the country’s election security, noting that the attacks are often aimed at election systems serving communities of color.
“If there are legitimate concerns around election integrity, let’s address them,” Johnson said. “But to continue to repeat something that is neither factual or misleading is only furthering the goal of eroding trust in the system, and that’s a strategy.”
Campbell from the NCBCP believes that the energy, which she found especially pronounced among young activists, was only the start of a broader engagement effort for communities of color.
“When this over, the work begins,” Campbell said.
Civil rights leaders praise ‘high energy’ while awaiting concrete policy steps during DNC
Civil rights leaders speaking at the DNC’s first night are expecting to hear concrete plans for racial and economic justice from their fellow speakers from the podium this week.
“I will be listening to determine whether they are speaking to the needs and interests of African American communities across this country,” said Derrick Johnson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
“I’ll be expecting her to lay out the foundation for where she will want to take the country,” said Melanie Campbell, CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, a civil rights group that works to enfranchise Black Americans.
Johnson and Campbell are both speaking tonight. Campbell noted that the event has had “a high level of energy,” largely drawn from renewed optimism among liberals and progressives at the ascension of Vice President Harris.
“It was not something we were expecting. It is a humbling moment we are witnessing. Our ancestors’ wildest dreams,” said Campbell.
Campbell, who called on Biden to select a Black woman as his vice president during the 2020 election, said she had always been sure that Harris was prepared to serve from the Oval Office. “We knew she had to be ready to be president, as with any previous vice president,” Campbell said of her and her allies thinking in 2020.
‘The whole world is watching’
Dozens of activists chanting, “End the occupation now,” are facing off with police just a few blocks from the United Center. As tensions rose, many officers put on gas masks, and the situation intensified when some activists tried to bring down a second fence set up in front of the police.
Some protesters began chanting, “The whole world is watching!” just as anti-Vietnam War protesters did in 1968 when police clashed with protesters on live television.
Demonstrators break through fence
Dozens of activists taking part in the Coalition to March on the DNC broke through a fence set up outside the United Center.
The fence lining Park 578 was torn down as protesters broke through. A second fence was in place in front of dozens of police officers. Activists banged on the fence in front of officers, who yelled at them not to touch it.
Harris campaign manager says more policy proposals are forthcoming
The Harris campaign’s principal deputy manager, Quentin Fulks, pushed back against criticism that the vice president hasn’t shared many policy proposals since launching her campaign about a month ago.
Onstage at the CNN-Politico Grill at the convention, he pointed to her proposals to give $25,000 in down payment help to first-time homebuyers, to expand the child tax credit and to build more affordable housing units.
“I think that she has rolled out policy and I think any qualms with sort of what’s on the website is just a matter of literally switching the top of the ticket in a presidential campaign,” he said.
“You’re going to continue to see more policy proposals from her. But the important thing is that the vice president isn’t just saying things to get votes. These policies are being developed based on her worldviews, her values, her vision set. And so, it’s really important to her that she gets it right.”
Michigan senator believes authenticity will help Harris win the Great Lake state
Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said that Harris’ authenticity will be key to her winning his state this fall.
“We’re a midwestern state, people like to know folks are speaking from the heart,” the Michigan Democrat said onstage at the conventions CNN-Politico Grill. “She needs to show how she cares, which she does. I know that.”
Peters said he’s seen a surge of enthusiasm and energy among Democratic voters who had been looking for a fresh face with new ideas.
But he said he’s looking forward to honoring Biden’s decades of public service in Monday’s evening programming, lauding the president as a “man of incredible character.”
“Just imagine that. A president that puts himself second to what’s good for the country,” Peters said of Biden. “I can think of a recent president that probably that wouldn’t apply to.”
Peters was optimistic about battleground state Senate races in this fall’s election, saying Democrats are running strong candidates against flawed Republicans.
Thousands of protestors march outside DNC
Several thousand protesters marched in the demonstration snaking through residential areas around the United Center, but the numbers fell short of the “tens of thousands” organizers had predicted in their legal battle for a longer route. “We’re proud of the turnout, especially considering the degree of the repression from the city,” said organizer Faayani Aboma Mijana.
Police presence was heavy along the march route but organizers of the march also provided their own marshals to provide security, hand out water bottles and keep people on the city-approved route.
Among the sea of delegates, an ‘honest weirdo’
Long before the Democrats started using the “weird” label for Republican policies and statements, one DNC delegate has been describing himself as an “honest weirdo.”
Dakota Adams, the estranged son of Oath Keepers founder and convicted insurrectionist Stewart Rhodes, is one of Montana’s delegates. Adams is the goth-looking one with the long hair, black leather jacket, black fingernail polish and mostly progressive political ideas.
Adams is running an uphill race as a Democrat for a state House seat in the very Republican northwestern corner of Montana.
He says his clothing is authentic to himself and says he believes voters prefer an “honest weirdo” to other candidates who dress as what he calls “Spirit Halloween cowboys” to curry favor with constituents.
Adams says the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection — which his father is serving 18 years in prison for helping to plan — served as a “sobering wake-up call in terms of … how the Republican Party enabled a president to become an active danger to this republic.” It also spurred Adams’ run for office.
Biden arrives at the DNC
President Joe Biden is doing a walkthrough at the United Center in Chicago ahead of his keynote speech this evening. During his remarks on the event’s opening night, he’s expected to hand off leadership of his party to Vice President Harris.
When asked by reporters if he was ready to pass the torch, Biden responded, “I am.”
James Taylor among the musicians readying to take the stage at the DNC
The singer-songwriter did a soundcheck on stage in Chicago on Monday afternoon, ahead of an expected evening performance.
Taylor also performed at the 2012 DNC in North Carolina, where President Barack Obama was nominated for a second term.
Trump closes Pennsylvania campaign event with jabs toward Harris
In his visit to a factory plant in York, Pennsylvania, former President Donald Trump mostly stuck to the script, as he talked to workers and business people about his proposals to boost energy production. But toward the end he veered back to personal attacks against Harris that had more to do with her father’s work.
“Her father is a Marxist professor,” Trump said, before questioning what Democrats were thinking when uniting behind Harris.
“I wonder if they knew where she comes from, where she came from, what her ideology is,” he said.
He took issue with Harris and her allies calling him and his running mate JD Vance “weird.”
“I think we’re extremely normal people,” he said.
Protesters calling for ceasefire between Israel and Hamas march toward DNC site
Thousands of activists calling for ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war have begun their march towards the United Center, where the Democratic National Convention is taking place.
The activists are participating in the Coalition to March on the DNC, an alliance of over 200 organizations. The activists waved Palestinian flags while chants and drumbeats reverberated through the crowd.
The route is approximately a mile long and will conclude at a park near the arena. Police have lined the streets where the march is taking place.
Trump says if elected he wants to rapidly approve new energy infrastructure
At a campaign event, Former President Donald Trump said that if he is elected he wants to issue rapid approvals of new energy infrastructure and do away with the Biden administration’s “power plant rule.”
He said he will commit to bringing “advanced small modular nuclear reactors,” adding they can be built at a very low cost and are “absolutely safe.”
“I stand for American energy independence and manufacturing dominance,” Trump said.
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a rule earlier this year to put limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired electric plants as an effort to roll back pollution.
The United States is speeding up efforts to license and build a new generation of nuclear reactors to supply carbon-free electricity.
Faster development is one thing Congress and the administration agree on. President Joe Biden signed legislation in July to modernize the licensing of new reactor technologies so they can be built faster. Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate environment and House energy committees praised the enactment.
Democratic state legislators say they are more confident with Harris as party’s presidential nominee
Democrats in state houses are feeling more confident about their chances of defending their control of state legislative chambers and potentially flipping some chambers in November’s elections with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket.
“We now have energy and excitement that is at a greater level than it has been,” said Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which works to elect Democrats to state legislatures. “Our battleground states align really nicely with key presidential battlegrounds. I think in places like Michigan and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and Arizona there’s good overlap.”
Williams said that the Harris campaign had also brought in a new wave of volunteers who could also aid candidates campaigning for local and state office. She added that the DLCC is focused on tailoring Democrats’ national message on issues like abortion, inflation and climate to specific, local interests.
Williams also said that the DLCC candidates running are often more women and people of color than in previous years. Taken together, state and local Democrats are hoping newfound energy within the party that’s on display in Chicago redounds to their races.
“I think that is our challenge: making sure that people feel good and educated and ready to vote down ballot,” Williams said.
On Air Force One headed to the DNC
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Chicago that President Joe Biden “looks forward to addressing his party and the nation” as DNC’s keynote speaker Monday evening.
“He’s going to make the case of the moment that we’re in,” she said. “This is a fulfilling moment for him.”
Protesters gather in Union Park ahead of a planned march
Protesters gathered in Union Park as a series of speakers addressed the crowd Monday afternoon ahead of a planned march.
In between chants of “free free Palestine” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” protest leaders condemned American politicians across the political spectrum and listed their demands.
“The leading Democrats say a lot of nice words about the communities who helped them get elected,” organizer Kobi Guillory yelled into a microphone. “But they prove through their actions that they serve the same corporate interests as the Republicans.”
Andrew Josefchak told the crowd their movement must continue growing and building upon the momentum from widespread protests on college campuses in the spring.
“We should not have to choose whose lives we value in an election. And taking a stand against genocide should not be treated like a fringe issue, and we are going to make sure it is not treated like a fringe issue,” he said. “Some people think social change is made by delegates in the DNC, but in reality it is made by us and it is made in the streets.”
“We make it clear that we will not be casting any ballots for anybody who oversees the genocide, the indiscriminate murder of Palestinian children, families and futures,” Sara Mahmoud with the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression told the group of protesters.
At a Trump campaign event in Pennsylvania
Several dozen supporters were arriving at a factory plant in York, Pennsylvania, to hear former President Donald Trump speak.
A sign behind the podium where he will speak reads “Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!”
The business Precision Custom Components makes pressure valves, reactors and other parts for military and nuclear purposes. The crowd of supporters includes people who work at the plant and other residents from the area.
It’s Trump’s second campaign stop in the battleground state of Pennsylvania in less than two days.
Rep. Frost: Harris’ run for president has re-energized young people
Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, the first Gen Z member of Congress, says that Vice President Kamala Harris now running at the top of the party’s ticket has meant “a renewed energy with young people that I haven’t seen.”
Frost, 27, was a leading voice for President Joe Biden when he was seeking reelection. But with Biden dropping out of the race last month and endorsing Harris, Frost is now campaigning for the vice president.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention on Monday, Frost said the change is “not just because of President Biden, I’ve not seen with a lot of candidates before.”
“I think it’s less about the president and more about the vice president, something that she’s brought to the table,” Frost said. “I think it has to do with her authenticity, her ability to go viral online.”
The stage is set but no one’s shown up
Not a single speaker or spectator showed up by early Monday afternoon to a speakers’ stage in Chicago set up by city officials near the United Center as crowds of anti-war activists preparing to march began filling a park a few blocks away.
Eight groups with progressive agendas had signed up for 45-minute speaking slots Monday. On other days, some conservative groups including the Illinois Policy Institute have plans to speak.
Sen. Schumer regaled boisterous gathering of union members with the tale of his political origin
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was a young man in his early 20s and said he was working at a “big fancy law firm” – a job he hated.
“I was pushing a pencil for some … rich guy who I knew I wouldn’t like if I ever met him,” Schumer said.
So he decided to run for the New York Assembly and told his barber — also a local bookie — who gave him 50-to-1 odds of winning.
Schumer went on to win and the reason, he said, was because of his supporters in the labor movement who campaigned for him.
“You men and women of labor were there when I needed you,” Schumer said to raucous applause. “As long as I’m in office, I will always be there when you need me.”
Israel supporters at park as pro-Palestinian rally took place to ‘make our presence felt’
Around 40 pro-Israel supporters walked around a park where a pro-Palestinian rally was taking place, and later marching towards the United Center.
The pro-Israel counter-protesters, who mainly remained silent while waving Israeli flags, were accompanied by approximately 20 Chicago police officers on bicycles. Although tensions flared at times, no physical altercations occurred during the park walk.
Josh Weiner, co-founder of Chicago Jewish Alliance and walking with the pro-Israel group, said their intent was to “make our presence felt.”
Weiner said the group had applied for permits that were not approved by the city.
“The pro-Palestine protesters have gotten multiple permits, including a march, which seems to be a little bit weighted on one side,” Weiner said.
Biden’s daughter Ashley will introduce him before his DNC speech Monday night
The speech, which will follow remarks by first lady Jill Biden, is expected to serve as a sort of political farewell for the president, who abandoned his bid for a second term amid concerns about his age.
The rest of the speaking program, which is scheduled to last about five hours, will include a mix of Democratic Party stars and union leaders. Rep. James Clyburn and Sen. Chris Coons, two of Biden’s closest allies, are slated to deliver remarks. So is Hillary Clinton, the former first lady and secretary of state who fell short in her own campaign for president.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain will make a solo appearance while other labor chiefs will share the stage earlier in the evening.
As with any convention, there’s the potential for lesser known politicians to seize their speaking slot to make a name for themselves. The line up includes California Rep. Robert Garcia, Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, New York Rep. Grace Meng and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
Green Party candidate Jill Stein: Don’t vote for Harris until she supports swift ceasefire in Gaza
Green Party candidate Jill Stein on Monday urged Democrats to withhold their vote from Harris until she supports a swift ceasefire in Gaza.
“We must vote against genocide,” Stein said during an Abandon Harris news conference. “In fact, there is no lesser evil. We have two greater evils: One conducting genocide now, the other saying to finish the job right now.”
Stein is on the ballot in several key states for Democrats this year. She ran in 2016, gaining tens of thousands of votes in battleground states, including Wisconsin where her vote count was more than Donald Trump’s winning margin in the state. Some Democrats have blamed her for helping Trump win the state and the presidency that year.
DNC’s party platform still names Biden as the candidate for president
DNC delegates are set to vote Monday night on a 2024 party platform that wrongly names Biden as the candidate running for reelection.
The party said the document outlining a progressive vision for the next four years was approved by its platform committee on July 16, days before Biden bowed out and endorsed Harris for president. As a result, the platform repeatedly refers to Biden’s second term and his administration’s accomplishments. It mentions Harris’ work as vice president but doesn’t describe her candidacy or go into detail on her views on key issues.
Harris has talked generally about supporting the Biden administration’s key goals, which are more or less endorsed in the platform as written. She has outlined a string of new economic proposals but otherwise hasn’t released a detailed list of her policy positions since launching her campaign.
The DNC said its platform makes “a strong statement about the historic work that President Biden and Vice President Harris have accomplished hand-in-hand.”
Citing the Israel-Hamas war, the Abandon Biden movement shifts its focus to Harris
A group that has spent the months since the Israel-Hamas war pursuing a campaign for Democrats to push Biden out as their presidential candidate shifted its focus Monday to the new presumptive nominee: Kamala Harris.
The Abandon Biden movement has focused on the president’s handling of the deadly war in Gaza and the flow of U.S. military aid to Israel as it responds to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. But at an event Monday, the group rebranded to Abandon Harris, saying the vice president’s inability to differentiate herself from Biden’s handling of the war is not acceptable.
The group has demanded that Harris support an unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza in addition to a full U.S. arms embargo on Israel.
As an alternative to Harris, the group has been pushing for third party candidates like progressive Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
“We ask the American people to vote for these third party candidates that are part of a broader movement to end a system that claims that the only rational thing is to select the lesser of two evils,” Hassan Abdel Salam, founder of Abandon Biden, said at a news conference Monday.
Chicago leaders say they’re committed to keeping protests peaceful during the DNC
“The city of Chicago is really good at things like this,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said at a Monday news conference. “We are ready.”
Police Superintendent Larry Snelling praised police and march organizers for a peaceful Sunday night protest he said went off without any problems. He said officers stood ready to ensure the demonstrations stay peaceful throughout the week.
“Listen, it’s this simple. The Chicago Police Department is here to protect everyone in this city,” Snelling said. “What we will not tolerate is intimidation. We we will not tolerate violence.”
Protester issues include climate change, abortion rights and racial equality, to name a few. But many agree that pressing for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war is the top message of the demonstrations. They have likened it to the Vietnam War of their generation.
Walz responds to GOP criticism of how Harris laughs
Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz is responding to some in the GOP mocking the way his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, laughs.
“They’re on her because she laughs,” Walz, the Minnesota governor, told a meeting of the Hispanic Caucus during Monday’s first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. “My god. I’ll take someone who laughs any damn day of the week.”
He continued of Harris, “She has a joy emanating out of her.”
Former Republican President Donald Trump has frequently criticized Harris for her laugh, and online videos of Harris laughing over and over through the years have become common.
As hundreds of the people in the crowd hoisted their cellphones to film and take selfies while he spoke from the nearby podium, Walz suggested Harris had reset the race since President Joe Biden gave up his reelection bid and endorsed her last month.
“People don’t to just want to vote against something. They want to vote for something,” Walz said. “Kamala Harris has given you something to vote for.”
Harris campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez addresses the Hispanic Caucus
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign manager says “we know that Latino voters are critical to our pathway to victory” in November.
Julie Chavez Rodriguez told members of the Democratic National Convention’s Hispanic Caucus that the campaign sees Hispanic voters as a large enough voting bloc to make up the margin of victory in critical swing states, including Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
Chavez Rodriguez pointed to an ad in English and Spanish that the campaign has produced promoting Harris’ background and upbringing.
“We’re going to do it in English. We’re going to do it in Spanish. We’re going to do it in Spanglish,” Rodriguez said to cheers, referencing Hispanics that are bilingual or mostly speak one or the other.
Meanwhile, the battle for control of the House sends GOP Speaker Mike Johnson on western state campaign swing
While Democrats open their convention in Chicago, House Speaker Mike Johnson is keeping a robust August campaign schedule as he fights to hold his slim Republican majority this election.
Johnson is scheduled to be out West in Arizona and New Mexico this week fundraising and rallying with Republican House candidates. He had earlier stops in Montana and Washington state, including an event for Republican Joe Kent.
Democrats posted record online House fundraising in the immediate aftermath of Harris’ rise to the top of ticket. But Johnson told House Republicans in a private call last week he was transferring $4 million he had raised to their own campaign committee, according to a person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss the private talk.
All told, the Republican speaker has traveled to more than 40 cities in 20 states this month, the person said.
— Lisa Mascaro
What channel is carrying the convention?
The DNC will livestream on more than a dozen platforms, including the convention website, YouTube and X. For the first time in convention history, organizers say, they will also host vertical streams across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to make the proceedings more accessible on mobile devices.
Convention officials say there will be English and Spanish versions, as well as American Sign Language interpretation and an audio description service.
A number of network and cable news outlets have announced special programming for the prime-time portions of the convention, when Harris and others will give speeches from the hall where delegates are convening.
Other media outlets, both local and national, will stream whatever is happening on the floor. The actual space itself is closed to the public, behind several layers of security accessible only to delegates, officials, volunteers and credentialed media.
▶ Read more about how, and when, to watch the action at the DNC
More details on Monday’s DNC speakers
On day one of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, organizers of the event say viewers will hear from “everyday people” as well as a slate of elected officials, including a headlining appearance by President Joe Biden that will serve as a celebration of his record in office.
Among the speakers: United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain; Hillary Clinton; Reps. Grace Meng, Jamie Raskin and Jasmine Crockett; as well as Sens. Chris Coons and Raphael Warnock; and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
Much of the programing will focus on Biden’s record of achievements during his time in the White House, which includes passing major pieces of legislation that included policies Democrats had dreamed of enacting for a generation.
“I think it’s important for him to answer those age-old questions: what have you done for me lately and why bother to go out and vote?” said former Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond, a Biden advisor.
“Politicians worry about the next election. Statesmen worry about the next generation,” said Richmond, who called Biden “a statesman who will pass the baton on to Kamala Harris to continue to put this country first.”
— An earlier version of this item had an incorrect spelling of Rep. Grace Meng’s last name and incorrect wording in Rep. Cedric Richmond’s quote.
The signs of a post-Biden Democratic party
The scene at the opening events of the Democratic National Convention would have been unrecognizable a few months ago. Delegates dressed head to toe in Harris-Walz merch, some wearing the vice president’s face on their scarf or her euphemisms on graphic tees.
A new generation of Democratic leaders, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Witmer and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, spoke about the new “infusion” of energy at various delegation breakfasts. But even as Democrats kicked off a week dedicated to ushering in their new presumptive nominee, there were still remnants of the man who was leading the party and the presidential ticket just a short while ago.
At the Florida delegation breakfast, speakers made mentions about the “ultimate sacrifice” President Joe Biden made last month to step aside, saying that without that decision, the idea that the Sunshine State could potentially be in play for Democrats would be mere fantasy.
“Joe Biden made a selfless, heroic decision, and it’ll be awesome to celebrate him tonight,” Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida told The Associated Press. “And then we’re going to look to the future and pivot.”
Shortly before Castor took the stage to speak, a DNC volunteer pulled out a suitcase and began to hand out replicas of Joe Biden’s infamous aviators to the dozens of attendees.
Why was the official nomination vote held before the convention this year?
DNC officials first indicated in May that they would conduct a virtual roll call before the convention to clear a potential hurdle in getting the Democratic nominee on the ballot in Ohio. Ohio’s deadline to file for the general election ballot was Aug. 7. Although the deadline had been modified in previous presidential election years to accommodate late-summer conventions of both parties, this year state Republicans initially planned to enforce the existing deadline, with one GOP lawmaker calling the scheduling bind “ a Democratic problem.”
The Republican-controlled Legislature did eventually make an accommodation for the convention at the behest of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, but the law doesn’t go into effect until Aug. 31. Citing concerns that Ohio Republicans could still try to block their candidate from getting on the ballot despite the legislative fix, DNC officials moved forward with their virtual roll call as originally planned.
After addressing DNC, Joe and Jill Biden will take a vacation in southern California
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will head directly to southern California’s Santa Ynez Valley on Monday for a vacation after they address the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, according to the White House.
The trip to the stunning valley known for its wineries — the Oscar-winning film “Sideways” was filmed there — could give Biden a chance to lay low during a week when Democrats want the focus to be on Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as they make their pitch to many Americans who are just beginning to tune in to the 2024 presidential election.
Pro-Palestinian supporters to hold a rally and march
Pro-Palestinian supporters from across the nation descended on Chicago’s Union Park early Monday in anticipation of a rally and march to near the United Center, where the Democratic National Convention is taking place.
Taylor Cook, an organizer with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, traveled from Atlanta for the Chicago march. Cook said the group was pushing all Democrats to call for an end to aid to Israel, with a particular focus on Vice President Kamala Harris.
“We’re saying to Kamala, she has been complicit in this. People think it’s just Joe Biden, but she is vice president,” Cook said. “So we’re saying, you need to stop if you want our vote.”
Cook also anticipated that the march would be “incredibly historic.”
“I’ve been an organizer for a few years now, and I have never been to a march that is predicted to be this big,” Cook added.
Walz appears at the Wisconsin delegation’s breakfast
Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz appeared at the breakfast of the Wisconsin delegation, declaring to cheers, “I can’t say enough about my neighbors.”
Walz, who’s governor of Minnesota, was set to make the rounds at key early meetings on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention, which opened Monday in Chicago.
Returning to a theme he’s frequently used throughout the campaign, Walz promised that he and Vice President Kamala Harris would hustle through the race’s remaining weeks, saying hard work will take precedence over personal comforts and that the Democratic ticket can “sleep when we’re dead.”
The governors of Illinois, Pennsylvania and Michigan hopped from one delegate breakfast to another
Which resulted in roaring crowds of Democrats vying for selfies and handshakes from the Democratic leaders.
“We are on the cusp of electing an administration that will take us the next step forward,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told Florida delegates Monday morning.
Will there be any suspense in the roll vote?
Convention roll call votes haven’t had much drama in more than 40 years. Since then, a single candidate has always emerged in each party as the presumptive nominee well before the convention, making the vote itself a foregone conclusion.
That’s especially true in the 2024 Democratic convention, since the ceremonial vote is non-binding and cannot undo or modify the results of the earlier, official vote to nominate Harris held over five days in the first week of August. That’s not to say there can’t be some attempt to stage a protest vote from the convention floor, but it won’t have any effect on the outcome.
The result from the official nomination vote from early August was 4,563 votes for Harris and 52 for “present,” the only other option on the ballot. An additional 79 delegates did not cast votes.
Convention delegates will nominate Harris, again. Here’s how it works
It’s been nearly two weeks since Vice President Kamala Harris officially won the Democratic presidential nomination in an online vote, the first time a nominee was named prior to a party’s convention. But the approximately 4,700 delegates charged with picking a nominee to lead the ticket did so from locations around the globe on their laptops and devices in relative isolation from one other. There was none of the pomp and fanfare that usually accompany the process of selecting the party’s standard-bearer. In other words, it wasn’t very fun.
Democratic party leaders hope to make up for that by holding a ceremonial vote at the Democratic National Convention, which begins Monday in Chicago. Among the major agenda items will be what’s essentially a re-staging of the official presidential nomination vote from early August, mirroring the sometimes-festive, sometimes-raucous roll call votes that have been a staple of in-person party conventions for nearly 200 years.
The Democratic National Committee calls it a “celebratory Roll Call” and said in a statement the event would give delegates the opportunity to “celebrate the nomination” of Harris, who’s the first woman of color to lead a major party presidential ticket.
Chicago mayor urges Harris to embrace agenda that would ‘push for economic stability and growth for working people’
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson urged Vice President Kamala Harris to embrace an agenda that would “push for economic stability and growth for working people.”
“She’s off to a great start already,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said of Vice President Kamala Harris’ emerging economic platform during an interview with The Associated Press.
Johnson, who’s emerged as a surrogate for Harris among progressives and at events for Black male outreach in cities like Detroit, emphasized Harris’ upbringing and record as attorney general as potential strengths on the campaign trail.
“Showing up for working people is what the vice president has done her entire career,” Johnson said.
“The economic stability of our country really requires someone who understands the interests of working people,” he contended.
“She knows what it is like to struggle, along with Governor Walz. Like myself, he is a former social studies teacher,” Johnson said of the Minnesota governor.
Johnson, who on Sunday described Chicago as “one of the most diverse communities in the country,” defended the city’s record on race and inclusion as it grapples with historic challenges like the migrant crisis and debates over racial equity.
Democrats kicked off their convention Monday morning with a series of delegate breakfasts
At the Florida delegation breakfast, Democrats started the session by making note of the turmoil that rocked their party in the last few months leading up to the convention.
“We are here today, in this moment, because President Joe Biden made one of the greatest sacrifices to save this nation,” Nikki Fried, the state Democratic party chair, told delegates.
Democrats in Florida have recently become bullish about their chances in the Sunshine State despite serious doubts among some national operatives.
Democrats open convention transformed by Harris’ ascendance but facing lingering questions
A refreshed Democratic Party reintroduces itself to a divided nation this week, having been transformed by the money, momentum, relief and even joy that followed Vice President Kamala Harris ′ rise to the top of its ticket.
The whiplash of the last month culminates in a convention that begins Monday in Chicago. Above all, the four-day gathering of thousands of activists and party leaders from across the nation is designed to celebrate and strengthen Harris as President Joe Biden’s replacement and boost her campaign to defeat Republican Donald Trump in November.
Just beneath the surface, real questions loom about the depth of Harris’ newfound support, the breadth of her coalition and the strength of her movement. Not even a month ago, Democrats were deeply divided over foreign policy, political strategy and Biden himself, who was holding on after his disastrous debate by suggesting he had a better chance than any Democrat — including Harris — of beating Trump.
Trump will campaign across the country this week as he struggles to adjust to Harris
As Democrats kick off their convention in Chicago, Donald Trump ’s campaign is trying to regain its footing after weeks of struggling to adjust to Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the opposing ticket.
Trump will attempt to undercut the Democratic celebration with a jam-packed schedule that includes daily events in battleground states tied to subjects where Republicans think they hold an advantage. It’s his busiest campaign week since the winter, when he faced challengers in the Republican primary.
But when Trump has held events billed as policy speeches throughout the campaign, they have often resembled his usual, rambling rally remarks. And as has long been the case during his political career, Trump has undercut his own message with outbursts and attacks that drown out anything else.
Protesters plan large marches and rallies as DNC kicks off
Crowds of activists are expected to gather in Chicago for protests outside the Democratic National Convention this week, hoping to call attention to such issues as economic injustice, reproductive rights and the war in Gaza.
While Vice President Kamala Harris has galvanized the party as she gears up to accept the Democratic nomination, activists say their plans to demonstrate haven’t changed. They’re ready to amplify their progressive message before the nation’s top Democratic leaders.
Their issues cover climate change, abortion rights and racial equality, to name a few, but many activists agree an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war is the overarching message of the demonstrations. They’ve likened it to the Vietnam War of their generation. The Chicago area has one of the largest Palestinian communities in the nation and buses are bringing activists to Chicago from all over the country.
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