US President Joe Biden delivered the keynote speech on the primary evening of the 2024 Democratic Nationwide Conference, successfully handing the baton to Vice President and occasion nominee Kamala Harris.
“Are you able to vote for freedom? Are you able to vote for democracy and America? Let me ask you: Are you able to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz as President and Vice President of america? ? he stated on Monday.
He additionally quoted a music and advised the group: “America, America, I provide the greatest.”
His speech capped a star-studded opening evening that included NBA coach Steve Kerr and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
However overseas, protests in opposition to Biden’s overseas coverage are rampant as he continues to help Israel’s struggle in Gaza, a battle that has raised issues about widespread human rights abuses.
However internally, the barbs had been aimed toward one other goal: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who will face Harris on the poll through the Nov. 5 election.
Listed below are the important thing takeaways from the primary day of the convention.
Protests gathered outdoors the convention
The day started with occasion officers taking part in press conferences and panel discussions. However outdoors the chamber, a special occasion was going down.
Hundreds of individuals gathered in Union Park, simply blocks from the principle conference venue, the United Middle, to protest Democrats’ failure to stem the movement of arms and assist to Israel.
The US has lengthy been a staunch ally of Israel, and President Biden continues to pledge “unwavering” help regardless of the rising toll from Israel’s Gaza struggle.
Israel’s navy offensive has killed greater than 40,000 Palestinians, and human rights advocates have expressed concern about hunger and genocide in Gaza.
Regardless of tensions within the lead-up to the occasion, Monday’s protests had been largely peaceable.
Metropolis officers and protest organizers initially clashed over the placement of the occasion. Simply final week, organizers filed a authorized injunction after the town tried to forestall them from utilizing the sound system, stage and moveable bogs.
However the protest went off with out a hitch, with demonstrators holding indicators that learn “Finish U.S. assist to Israel!”
“Are we for the mass killing of infants, or are we in opposition to it? To me, it is a quite simple equation,” protester Wealthy Barnes advised Al Jazeera’s Ali Hab on the protest route (Ali Harb).
At one level, a small group of protesters broke away from the principle march and breached the perimeter of the convention venue, however police shortly swarmed the scene and repelled the breach.
Democrats have a good time occasion variety
Nevertheless, the principle actions of the convention started within the night.
A lineup of prime-time audio system took the stage to tout Harris’ candidacy and the Democratic platform, which was sealed by a block vote.
The night’s theme was “For the Folks,” a phrase immortalized in President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Gettysburg Handle: “Authorities of the folks, by the folks, for the folks shall not perish from the earth.”
Democrats have used the theme to focus on their occasion’s variety and assault Republican nominee Donald Trump.
For instance, Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, one of many nation’s most distinguished civil rights organizations, quipped as he took the stage: “I am right here to do my black job.”
This was a reference to Trump’s much-criticized remarks throughout a June presidential debate, warning that immigrants had been “taking jobs from black folks.”
However whereas Trump was met with numerous satires, Democrats had been extra centered on celebrating the affect of Harris’ election on American illustration.
If Harris wins in November, she is going to grow to be the primary lady, first South Asian and first black lady to win the White Home.
“As a black man elevating slightly black woman on Chicago’s West Facet, I do know that my daughter Braden won’t solely see herself mirrored within the White Home, however will expertise essentially the most profound facets of American values,” stated Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson addressed the group.
Speaker slams Trump’s COVID report
Democrats have centered on different evident weaknesses within the Republican ticket, together with “Venture 2025,” a coverage doc written by a former Trump aide.
However one main theme emerged from their assaults on former President Trump: his dealing with of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Practically 1.2 million folks in america finally died from COVID-19, and critics slammed Trump for downplaying the disaster and blocking social distancing insurance policies to keep away from unfold.
A number of politicians took the stage on the Democratic Nationwide Conference to share their heart-wrenching tales from the peak of the pandemic, putting a lot of the blame on Trump.
“My brother Ron is the second particular person in Tennessee to die from COVID-19,” Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan stated, her voice shaking.
“Our communities are struggling. Our economic system is in hassle. Donald Trump is taking part in video games. Due to his failure to reply, our nation is being pushed to the brink. However the Biden-Harris administration is taking motion took swift and decisive motion.
California Rep. Robert Garcia defined that his mom was a well being care employee on the time.
“In the summertime of 2020, I misplaced each my mother and stepdad to the COVID-19 pandemic. I miss them on daily basis,” he stated. “So we ought to be outraged when Donald Trump and Make America Nice Once more extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene downplay the horrors of this pandemic.”
AOC rips off Trump’s stance on labor
In probably the most anticipated speeches of the evening, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took the rostrum and delivered a fiery speech that delved into the Trump candidacy. Class politics in {qualifications}.
“Six years in the past, I used to be working as a waitress in New York Metropolis, taking omelet orders. I had no medical insurance. My household was combating foreclosures. After my father died unexpectedly from most cancers, we had been caught with payments. Dilemma,” she defined.
“We’re uninterested in cynical politics that look like blind to the realities of working folks.”
Ocasio-Cortez was elected to the Home of Representatives in 2019 throughout Trump’s presidency. She has since grow to be certainly one of his most vocal critics, representing the progressive left.
“We all know Donald Trump will promote out this nation for a greenback if it means he can line his personal pockets and profit his Wall Road associates,” she stated on the conference stage, drawing the loudest cheers of the evening. .
She went on to check Trump to Harris, whom she known as a champion of the center class.
“Personally, I am uninterested in listening to how a two-part union buster thinks of herself as extra of a patriot than a girl who fights on daily basis to save lots of working folks from the boots of greed that trample the roads of our lives. ,” Ocasio-Cortez stated.
“The reality is, Don, you possibly can’t love this nation in the event you solely battle for the wealthy and large enterprise.”
Kamala makes sudden look to thank Biden
A part of the night was dedicated to eulogies for Biden’s presidency because the election attracts to a detailed.
Biden’s choice on July 21 to withdraw from the presidential race successfully made him a lame duck chief whose time period is ready to run out in January.
If he stays within the race, he would be the remaining speaker of the conference and take the stage Thursday evening. As a substitute, he’s scheduled to wrap up Monday evening with a sequence of audio system celebrating his legacy.
UAW President Shawn Fain praised Biden for becoming a member of staff on the picket strains in 2023, the primary strike in opposition to the three largest U.S. automakers: Ford, Stellantis and Basic Motors .
“I wish to say thanks to Joe Biden for strolling on the picket strains with the UAW and making historical past,” Fein stated.
Harris herself made a shock look on stage to personally thank Biden.
“Jo, thanks in your historic management, thanks in your lifetime of service to our nation, and thanks for all you’ll proceed to do. We’re eternally grateful to you,” she stated.
Former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton additionally expressed her gratitude to Biden for the outpouring of emotion.
“Allow us to salute President Biden. He has been a champion of democracy at dwelling and overseas. He has introduced dignity, decency and competence to the White Home. He has demonstrated what it means to be a real patriot,” she stated.
President Biden was launched by his daughter Ashley and spouse Jill, who recalled how her husband “died deep into his soul” earlier than deciding to drop out of the race.
“With religion and perception, Joe is aware of that the power of our nation doesn’t come from intimidation or cruelty. It comes from small acts of kindness that heal deep wounds,” Jill Biden stated on the conference stage.
When Biden himself lastly took the stage, he acquired a standing ovation and repeated chants of “Thanks, Joe.”
Biden’s public appearances have been extremely scrutinized since he made a disastrous look at a June presidential debate and repeatedly misplaced his prepare of thought.
However Monday’s look was a comparatively robust present from the 81-year-old president, who has spoken about inheriting the presidency within the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
“I knew then in my coronary heart what I do know now: There is no such thing as a place for political violence in America. No,” he stated.
He then lashed out at Republican ex-Trump, who falsely claimed he misplaced as a consequence of election fraud. “You’ll be able to’t say you like your nation solely whenever you win.”
He used the occasions of Jan. 6 as a metaphor for the pessimism of the previous and the optimism he stated he and Harris had delivered to the desk.
“It’s summer time. Winter is gone. It’s with a grateful coronary heart that I stand earlier than you on this August evening to report that democracy has prevailed. Democracy has been achieved. Democracy should now be preserved.
He concluded by praising Harris as a pal and colleague of “extraordinary integrity.”
“Selecting Kamala was one of many first choices I made as a nominee,” he stated, recalling the 2020 marketing campaign. “That is the perfect choice I’ve made in my total profession.”
“We saved democracy in 2020. Now we should reserve it once more in 2024.”
