The Democratic National Convention's fourth and final night Thursday is crescendoing with a speech from Vice President Kamala Harris.
After a week of Democrats’ most prominent figures rallying the party faithful, Harris has accepted her party’s nomination for president during a speech in which she's widely expected to offer her vision and policy agenda to the American people.
The theme of the final night is “For Our Future,” according to convention organizers.
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Harris drew a direct line between her current values and politics with her upbringing in a civil rights-oriented household. Harris noted that her parents met amid the civil rights movement and raised her with values of social justice.
“My mother was a five-foot-tall, brown woman with an accent,” Harris said. “And as the eldest child … I saw how the world would sometimes treat her, but my mother never lost her cool,” Harris said.
“She taught us to never complain about injustice but to do something about it,” Harris said to cheers. “And she also told us to never do something ‘half-assed.’ And that is a direct quote,” Harris said.
Harris might be a well-known figure as vice president, but, on the biggest stage of her presidential campaign thus far, she’s still taking the opportunity to get into some biography.
After a speech by her sister, Maya, who made repeated references to their mother’s accomplishments, Harris — who doesn’t frequently mention her father — spoke about both of her parents, then her upbringing, primarily at the hands of her mother.
In an emotional tribute to her mother and father, Harris talked about the lessons she learned from both her parents who divorced when she was young. “My mother would stay, stay close,” she said. “But my father would say as he smiled, ‘Run Kamala! Run! Don’t be afraid. Don’t let anything stop you.’”
Harris was greeted by an ovation that spanned nearly 3 minutes before she was able to begin her speech.
“OK, let’s get to business,” Harris said after thunderous cheers drowned out her attempts to get started.
“And happy anniversary, Dougie,” she said, marking their 10th wedding anniversary.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper isn’t beating around the bush in prime-time programming: He knows delegates are ready to hear from their nominee.
Cooper took the stage Thursday noting that he’s “the last guy standing between you and the moment we’re all waiting for” — Harris’ acceptance of the Democratic nomination.
Cooper recalled how he served alongside Harris when both were attorneys general in their respective states.
Cooper’s name had been floated as a possible VP for Harris after she ascended to the top of Democrats’ ticket.
Harris’ sister is, as the VP often does, talking about her mother’s support in her daughters growing up to be strong women.
Maya Harris says that her mother “was a trailblazer who defied the odds and defied herself.”
Kamala Harris often talks about her mother’s influence on her understanding of the world and her commitment to fighting for the rights of others.
“Kamala’s entire life has been about fighting for each of us to have that freedom,” Maya Harris said, of her sister.
Getting choked up, Maya Harris said she wished her mother could be present in the hall tonight, saying she could envision seeing her smiling and saying “how proud she is of Kamala,” before telling “all of us to roll up our sleeves and get to work.”
Rep. Adam Kinzinger was the latest Republican to speak on the DNC stage in support of the Harris-Walz ticket. Kinzinger retired from Congress after he criticized his own party in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a bid to stop Joe Biden from becoming president. Kinzinger, at the invitation of Democrats, defied his leadership to join Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming as a member of the House committee investigating the attack.
“Some have questioned why I’ve taken the stand I have,” Kinzinger said. “The answer is simple, ladies and gentlemen. We must put country first. And tonight, as a Republican speaking before you, I’m putting our country first.”
He added, “I know Kamala Harris shares my allegiance to the rule of law, the constitution and democracy.”
Just weeks ago, the former president delivered a series of blistering attacks at a rally against the Georgia governor.
But in a social media post, Trump thanked Kemp “for all of your help and support in Georgia, where a win is so important to the success of our Party and, most importantly, our Country.”
“I look forward to working with you, your team, and all of my friends in Georgia to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote.
His worlds marked a major departure from his comments at a rally earlier this month, where Trump tore into the governor, blaming him for his narrow 2020 loss in the state.
In a roughly 10-minute tirade, Trump railed against Kemp for not giving into his false theories of election fraud and also blamed the governor for not stopping a local district attorney from prosecuting him and several associates for his efforts to overturn the results.
“He’s a bad guy. He’s a disloyal guy. And he’s a very average governor,” Trump said then. “Little Brian, little Brian Kemp. Bad guy.”
Actress Eva Longoria says that Harris “worked at McDonald’s, but I worked at Wendy’s.”
“And look at us now,” Longoria declared.
Harris has frequently discussed previously working at McDonald’s as she works to make her middle-class upbringing more relatable to voters.
Beyoncé will not be attending Thursday’s Democratic National Convention, according to a source involved in the evening’s planning. Speculation about a potential surprise appearance by the music superstar spread like wildfire ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, and that’s the sort of welcome she got at the United Center.
The Michigan Democrat took the stage to big cheers, telling the at-capacity crowd that she’s known in Detroit as “Big Gretch,” and, as a woman, knows how to “GSD — get stuff done.”
Talking about Harris, Whitmer said the Democratic nominee “gets us. She sees us. She is us.”
But of the GOP nominee, Whitmer went on, “Donald Trump doesn’t know you, at all.”
“Hell, you think he’s even been to a grocery store?” Whitmer asked, implying Trump is out of touch with the needs of everyday Americans.
Whitmer’s name is often mentioned as a future presidential candidate for Democrats.
They’ll play a big role in the general election, but the swing states are also being well represented at this week’s DNC.
Throughout the week, representatives from the battlegrounds of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and Arizona have been making appearances on the United Center stage.
Those speakers, like Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, haven’t necessarily spent lots of time talking specifically about why their states would be critical wins for Democrats. But as they take the stage, they get a big welcome from their state’s delegation — and it’s no accident that lots of those delegations have prime seating in the arena.
Pink dueted with her 12-year-old daughter Willow Sage Hart on her song “What About Us” at the Democratic convention.
The two, wearing black and accompanied by only a few backup singers and an acoustic guitar, harmonized in sober but heartfelt tones on the 2017 protest song Pink co-wrote.
“What about all the broken happy ever afters?” the mother and daughter sang. “What about all the plans that ended in disaster?”
Their performance came after Rep. Gabby Giffords and others affected by gun violence had given emotional presentations to the crowd.
The Arizona Democrat said Thursday, “I’ve flown into space four times. I’ve flown into combat nearly 40 times. Not once did I do that by myself.”
In a somewhat rare occurrence during the convention’s closing night, Kelly invoked Trump’s name, saying that the GOP nominee “skipped his intelligence briefings” because he was “too busy sucking up to dictators and dreaming of becoming one himself.”
Kelly also quipped that it was tough to follow his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who got a lengthy ovation Thursday as she appeared and talked about the 2011 shooting that left her gravely wounded.
“President Obama had to follow Michelle,” Kelly said, recollecting the convention schedule from Tuesday. “I had to follow Gabby and Pink.”
After surviving a mass shooting at a 2011 meet-and-greet event, former Rep. Gabby Giffords was joined by her husband, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, to bring light to the issue of gun violence in America.
“Kamala can beat the gun lobby and can beat gun trafficking,” said Giffords, who opened the Giffords Law Center to track and analyze firearm legislation in all 50 states.
Rep. Lucy McBath of Georgia, who has become one of the top congressional advocates against gun violence, spoke of how she lost her son Jordan to gun violence in 2012.
“They should still be here,” Newtown, Connecticut, teacher Abbey Clements said of the students and staff killed at her elementary school in 2012.
Kim Rubio of Uvalde, Texas, recalled the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in where her daughter was killed.
Melody McFadden of Charleston, South Carolina, said her niece was 22 when she was shot to death in Myrtle Beach in 2014. Edgar Vilchez of Chicago said he “learned how to hide and how to drop” in school, to escape violence, but that there are also lessons in “writing the story that we choose to” when it comes to lessening gun violence.
This was supposed to be the night when President Biden accepted the Democratic nomination for a second term on stage in Chicago.
Instead, he’s on vacation in California as Harris prepares to become the party’s nominee.
The White House said Biden and first lady Jill Biden called Harris to wish her luck before her speech.
“We can’t wait to watch her accept this historic nomination,” Biden wrote on social media. “Kamala and Tim will inspire a generation and lead us into the future.”
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, said Vice President Kamala Harris is the best candidate to confront the climate crisis.
“An American president must lead the world in tackling climate change,’’ Haaland told delegates at the DNC. “We need a president who understands that assignment. That’s Kamala Harris. I know her record. She held polluters accountable for spilling oil into the San Francisco Bay. She defended President Obama’s Clean Power Plan in court. And as vice president, she cast a tie-breaking vote for the most ambitious climate action plan in our nation’s history,’’ the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
“Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will fight for a future where we all have clean air, clean water and healthy communities,’’ Haaland said to thunderous cheers.
How to correctly pronounce Harris’ first name has come up repeatedly. At the DNC’s closing night, prime-time emcee Kerry Washington brought the nominee’s great nieces on stage to help.
“It’s come to my attention that there are some folks who struggle, or pretend to struggle, with the proper pronunciation of our future president’s name,” the “Scandal” actor said to kick off prime-time speeches. “Confusion is understandable. Disrespect is not. So tonight we are going to help everyone get it right.”
Washington then brought up Amara, 8, and Leela, 6 — daughters of Harris’ niece Meena Harris — to lead the United Center crowd in a call-and-response chat about putting together “comma” and then “la.”
Some Republicans, including Trump, regularly pronounce Harris’ first name incorrectly as “Kah-MAH-la.” When asked why, Trump said last month that he had heard Harris’ first name said “about seven different ways.”
At the DNC, some speakers have pronounced Harris’ name incorrectly, including former President Bill Clinton and Rev. Al Sharpton.
Many speakers at the convention have linked Trump to Project 2025, but Trump has repeatedly disavowed the conservative initiative, saying on social media he hasn’t read it and doesn’t know anything about it. At a rally in Michigan, he said Project 2025 was written by people on the “severe right” and that some of the things in it are “seriously extreme.” He has also denied knowing who is behind the plan.
Project 2025 has also said that it is not tied to a specific candidate or campaign, yet it is connected to many in Trump’s orbit. Some of the people involved in Project 2025 are former senior officials from the Trump administration. The project’s director is Paul Dans, who served as chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under Trump.
Trump’s campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt was featured in one of Project 2025’s videos. John McEntee, a former director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office in the Trump administration, is a senior adviser. McEntee told the conservative website The Daily Wire earlier this year that Project 2025’s team would integrate a lot of its work with the campaign after the summer when Trump would announce his transition team.
Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, penned the forward of an as yet unreleased book written by Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation, which created Project 2025.
Actor Kerry Washington told the audience, “You are the fixers, you are the Olivia Popes!” as she opened the prime-time hours as host of the final night of the Democratic convention.
Washington has been best known in recent years for the ABC TV series “Scandal,” on which she plays Olivia Pope, crisis manager to a U.S. president, played by Monday night’s DNC host Tony Goldwyn. Goldwyn appeared on stage, hugged her, and helped her shoot a video of the arena.
Washington has been among the most vocal Hollywood supporters of Harris since she became a presidential candidate last month.
She was also a big supporter of President Biden, playing a virtual hosting role at the 2020 COVID-19-limited convention that brought his nomination.
The Chicks, the Texas trio of Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer were minus their banjos, fiddle and guitar as they sang in three-part harmony (with no audible effects) at the United Center.
They sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” in the same style at the 2020 convention, but that rendition was remote and prerecorded for the COVID-19-limited convention.
Little-known names performed the anthem to open the first three nights of the Chicago convection, but “The Star-Spangled Banner” was moved to prime time Thursday night, not long before Harris is scheduled to speak.
The Chicks have never been shy about getting into the political mix.
They dropped the “Dixie” from the front of their name — timed to the release of “March, March,” a song about social justice — amid the nationwide George Floyd protests and a surge in Black Lives Matter sentiment.
In 2003 during the run-up to the Iraq War, Maines said on stage in London that they were ashamed that President George W. Bush was from Texas.
That led to a big backlash and exile from many country circles. They turned the negative attention into one of their biggest hits, 2006’s “Not Ready to Make Nice.”
The Democratic primary is over, but remnants of one of its mainstays made an appearance at the United Center: a drumline.
On Thursday night, several white-clad drummers played an energetic set, including a moment where one of them played the drums while being held upside down.
Especially at Democratic presidential primary events, drumlines are a frequent fixture of many political events. During the 2020 cycle, Harris appeared at a Charleston, South Carolina, event where drumlines from several local colleges performed.
The vibe inside the stadium has been palpable since rumors began to swirl earlier that Beyoncé could be the special guest on the DNC’s final night. That energy spiked when DJ Metro decided to play Beyoncé‘s song “Texas Hold Em’” during an intermission, with many getting on their feet in anticipation.
An AP reporter overheard United Center bathroom attendants as well as security guards whispering about the possibility that Queen Bee herself could make an appearance Thursday night.
He wasn’t on the schedule, but NBA star and Olympic gold medal winner Stephen Curry just popped up on the big screens at the DNC to lend his support to Harris’ campaign.
Welcomed by big cheers from the thousands packed into the United Center for the convention’s closing night, Curry said his amped-up feeling of patriotism during the recent Olympics drove home for him that “Kamala Harris as president will bring that unity back.”
Curry, who plays for the Golden State Warriors, who said last month that he supported Harris, closed by saying, “The Oval Office would suit her well. In the words of Michelle Obama, do something. Go vote.”
Earlier this week, Curry’s Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr took the DNC stage to endorse Harris as well.
Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, who is campaigning to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz, talked about how the Republican senator and others in the party are “me guys.”
“Guys who talk a big game and only care about themselves,” he said. “But you know what has stuck with, is that America has never been about ‘me.’”
He added, “President Obama said I think the most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘we.’”
Rep. Maxwell Frost, the youngest and first Gen Z member of Congress, used his convention speech to talk about climate change.
“This election is about every drop of water that we consume and every breath we breathe,” Frost said. “Fighting the climate crisis is patriotic.”
He added, “And unlike Trump, our patriotism is more than some slogan on a hat.”
It’s a major issue for a lot of young voters, but climate change hasn’t been a dominant theme at this week’s convention. Several speakers and prepackaged videos played throughout the arena have aimed to make the case for preserving resources for future generations.
With hours still to go in the DNC’s closing night program, movements are being restricted for some of those inside the convention hall.
Journalists seated in sections just off the arena floor have been told that they won’t be allowed to return to those seats if they leave for any reason, starting at around 7:20 p.m.
Officials with the House Press Gallery said DNC officials had issued the policy, citing restrictions put in place by the fire marshal.
Donald Trump is reviving a widely denounced insult against Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as he responds to the DNC on his Truth Social network.
“Pocahontas is now speaking at the DNC,” Trump wrote, returning to an attack line Native American leaders have called offensive and distasteful.
Questions about Warren’s heritage surfaced during her 2012 Senate race challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Scott Brown.
In a 2012 interview with The Associated Press, Warren said she and her brothers were told of the family’s Native American heritage by their parents but never sought proof of ancestry because she didn’t think it was necessary.
Rev. Al Sharpton is being joined onstage by members of the Exonerated Five, also referred to as the Central Park Five — five men who were falsely accused of beating and raping a woman in New York’s Central Park when they were youths in the late ’80s. Antron McCray is the only member of the group not on stage.
At the time they were accused, Donald Trump took out ads in four New York newspapers calling for the state to reinstate the death penalty.
The boys were charged and convicted — and later exonerated after serving time in prison. But the ads paid for by Trump drew a lot of attention and helped build his celebrity.
“Our youth was stolen from us,” said Korey Wise, who blamed Trump for some of the harsh treatment they received from the public. “He spent $85,000 on an ad ... calling for my execution.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is conspicuously steering around questions about whether he might join a potential Kamala Harris administration or where his own political ambitions might take him in the future.
When asked during an interview with NBC about a possible role in a Harris White House, the Democratic governor at first appeared to stumble over his words, saying, “Yes, and.”
The interviewer then interjected, asking again if he would accept a role in her administration, he said, “My role in the administration is to deliver for California.”
He said he plans to “make her a success by being successful” for residents in their home state — “regardless of whether or not they voted for a Democrat.”
There has been widespread speculation about Newsom’s political future and he was asked if he was thinking about 2032, when a possible two-term Harris administration would end.
“In 2032, I hope to be walking without a cane,” Newsom said.
There’s been a lot of speculation as to what surprises may be in store for attendees at this closing night of the DNC. But Sen. Mitt Romney says he’s not among them.
The Utah Republican posted on X on Thursday that, “Contrary to fake news posts, I am not the surprise guest at the DNC tonight.”
Romney, who has long had disagreements with Trump, has said he wouldn’t back the former president in this year’s election.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, used her convention speech to bring light to what a second Trump presidency would mean for America on the global stage.
“Trump wants to take us backward,” she said. “He admires dictators ... a lot. He treats our friends as adversaries and our adversaries as friends.”
She also tried to bridge her state’s fierce sports rivalries as she called on its voters to support Harris.
Slotkin saluted the college football champion Michigan Wolverines, shouting“Go Blue!” But then she added, “Go Green!” a reference to one of Michigan’s top rivals, Michigan State.
A large, bound copy of the roughly 900-page “Project 2025” that Democrats have used all week as a prop at their convention made a return appearance for the final night.
Democrats have used the plan as a way to attack Trump and his policies.
Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado brought the oversized book on stage and said that Project 2025 would abandon U.S. troops, alleys and values. He said the plan endorses turning away from support for Ukraine in its war with Russia and calls for personnel changes of top military leaders.
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, who is running for reelection in one of the country’s most closely contested swing states, spoke about Harris’ promises to crack down on food producers and other corporations that she argues have unfairly raised prices to pad their profits.
“They’re selling you a lie,” Casey said, after discussing how much more expensive diapers have gotten in his state. “Prices are up because these corporations are scheming to drive them up.”
He denounced “greedflation,” something Harris frequently does.
Trump has countered by dismissing Harris’ anti-price-gouging proposals as communist-style price controls.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts became the second and last woman to run against Harris in 2020. Now she’s at the convention that is nominating her. She was welcomed with a standing ovation and minutes-long cheers from the crowd while openly fighting back tears.
“Kamala Harris can’t be bought and she can’t be bossed around,” Warren said about her former Democratic rival. The two women served in the Senate together.
Morgan Freeman has become the next prominent Black actor to narrate a Kamala Harris campaign video played at the Democratic convention.
The 87-year-old Oscar winner lent his signature “voice of God” narration to a montage of moments from the vice president’s life that was played early in the program on Thursday night, speaking lines like, “And then came a moment that changed Kamala Harris’ destiny, and lit the fire within.”
Actor Jeffrey Wright provided the narration for a similar video that played on Monday.
Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin rallied convention delegates with calls to protect entitlements for older Americans.
Baldwin, who is up for reelection this cycle, spoke as members of her home state delegation chanted “Tammy! Tammy!”
She told of her mother being a teenager who struggled with addiction when she was born, and of having never met her father. Baldwin was raised by her grandparents, she said, and, as they aged, she saw the importance of Social Security and Medicare.
Baldwin said Trump has suggested both programs could be cut but “we won’t let that happen.”
“We Democrats, we honor our elders and ask the wealthy to pay their fair share,” she said.
Unlike some of the other nights of this DNC, just about every single seat appears to be filled in the United Center as programming kicks off.
Long security lines have meant that delegates and guests had a hard time getting inside the arena. But as early as 2 p.m., delegates were already streaming toward the facility in which Harris will later accept the presidential nomination. Now, as the first speakers take the stage, they’re in their seats, with many wearing blinking or sparkly accessories like flashing blue hats for Illinois delegates, and foam cheese heads for Wisconsin delegates.
California Sen. Alex Padilla, who was sworn in to fill Kamala Harris’ Senate seat in 2021 after she became vice president, talked about how both he and Harris are a product of the American dream, coming from immigrant households and ascending to the highest levels of public office.
“My question to you is this: This November, who is ready to defend the dream?” Padilla asked convention goers. “Tim Walz is ready to defend the dream. Kamala Harris is ready to defend the dream.”
No surprise that teachers’ unions are backing the Harris-Walz ticket — the vice presidential candidate is a former social studies teacher himself. Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, tried to school delegates on Republican plans such as eliminating the Department of Education.
“We are coming together to say not on our watch,” Pringle said.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, went a bit deeper by talking about the idea of the social contract, a concept that originated with the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. She said teachers know that actions are often more important than words.
“My students taught me you’ve got to walk the walk,” she said.
If you think you’re seeing a lot of women wearing white tonight, you don’t need to adjust your television set.
There appeared to be a coordinated effort among female delegates and Democratic supporters as they arrived at the United Center on Thursday afternoon, with security lines and convention floor seats filling up with women clad in white suits, dresses and other attire.
So when Harris takes the stage to accept the Democratic presidential nomination — becoming the first Black woman, and only the second woman overall, to do so — she will be looking out across a sea filled with the color of women’s suffrage, the movement that culminated with American women securing the right to vote in 1920.
The homage is a couture callback to other momentous political events in which women wearing white have played a role, particularly for other glass ceiling moments.
▶ Read more about the coordinated fashion statement
Convention chairwoman Minyon Moore and Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat, took the stage to welcome the delegates for the last session.
Thursday night’s program is packed with members of Congress and other Democratic leaders and will conclude with Vice President Harris formally accepting her party’s nomination.
The arena is also buzzing about the possibility of a secret special guest making an appearance. But, so far at least, the secret is holding and who the guest might be — if it’s actually anyone at all — remains a mystery.
Demonstrators began amassing at Union Park Thursday on the final night of the convention for a march organized by the Coalition March on The DNC.
In the lead-up to the event, the grassy field teemed with Palestinian flags, as a speaker system played Palestinian dance songs. The largely festive atmosphere was briefly interrupted by the arrival of Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate and current Trump surrogate, who said he was interested in “hearing alternative points of view.” After describing himself as a supporter of Israel, Ramasway was driven from the park by protesters chanting “racists go home.”
Leaders of the “Uncommitted” movement, which garnered hundreds of thousands of votes in Democratic primaries across the nation in protest of the Israel-Hamas war, have been negotiating for weeks to secure a speaking slot for a Palestinian American at the DNC this week.
The Uncommitted National Movement said Wednesday that a Democratic National Committee official delivered a firm response: “The answer is no.”
In response, delegates decided to stage a sit-in outside Chicago’s United Center and vowed to remain until their request is granted or the convention ends on Thursday night. The sit-in has exposed the most visible cracks in the Democratic Party during an otherwise energized week.
The news came just a day after featuring the parents of an Israeli American hostage held by Hamas, igniting a firestorm of criticism from some on the left.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
▶ Read more about the “Uncommitted” movement’s DNC shutout
Intense speculation that Beyoncé will make an appearance at the DNC has built to a frenzy in recent hours.
The pop icon already gave Harris permission to use her hit song “Freedom” as a campaign anthem. But many have surmised that Beyoncé herself will make an appearance at the Democrats convention, pointing to a cryptic tweet by a top Harris aide, as well as an afternoon soundcheck inside the United Center that featured the Beyonce song “Cuff It.”
An hour before festivities were set to kick off, White House political director Emmy Ruiz tweeted out an emoji of a bee, which some took as a reference to the Beyhive, a colloquialism for avid Beyoncé fans.
Beyoncé isn’t the only star who was rumored to be making a surprise appearance. Some on social media postulated that Taylor Swift could appear, too.
Across this week’s convention, more than 200 online influencers, streamers and other social media personalities have been capturing and livestreaming their impressions of what’s going on.
There’s the 12-year-old nicknamed “Knowa,” who’s posted with a swath of prominent Democrats and went head-to-head with Republican personalities like MyPillow founder Mike Lindell inside the convention hall.
A veteran from rural North Carolina with more than 5 million TikTok followers proclaimed himself a “Hillbilly for Harris.” Other influencers and social media personalities are sharing everything from the food available at trucks outside the United Center to attendees’ thoughts on more serious issues, such the war in Gaza.
The creators were invited to the DNC by convention organizers, a new but significant part of a digital strategy that aims to leverage the sizable followings of creators across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Discord and Twitch, according to officials with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ campaign. They hope it will help Harris and running mate Tim Walz reach new voters who might not be following along with political news via traditional media.
▶ Learn more about Democrats’ influencer strategy
Trump ticked through a list of brutal crimes blamed on people who were living in the country illegally during a campaign event on the Arizona-Mexico border.
Trump invited relatives of two victims to join him in front of the wall.
Alexis Nungaray, whose 12-year-old daughter Jocelyn was killed in Houston, said the men charged with killing her should have been in immigration detention. She implored Americans to vote for Trump, saying he would get the border controlled.
“Please, please, I really hope everybody can hear my pain,” she said. “He needs to be in office. We need better control. We need to stop this. We need to stop losing our littles.”
Trump said Harris likes to talk about the future, calling out a central message she’s promoting at the Democratic convention, but the families joining him in Arizona, he said, “want to go back to the safe past.”
“That’s my dad!” 17-year-old Gus Walz could be seen exclaiming Wednesday night during his father’s speech at the DNC. He stood, tears streaming down his face, and pointed to his father, the governor of Minnesota, who accepted the party nomination for vice president.
Gus wept through much of the 16-minute speech, and took the stage with his family afterward, wrapping his dad in a tight bear hug, burying his face in his shoulder.
The high school senior’s joy quickly went viral. He was still trending Thursday on X. And his newfound fame is focusing attention on the challenges of people with learning disabilities. His parents recently revealed to People magazine that Gus has ADHD, an anxiety disorder and something called a nonverbal learning disorder. Searches on Google have spiked since Thursday night this week for the disorder and for the teen’s name.
▶ Read more about Gus Walz and Democrats’ policy on disabled Americans
Uncommitted delegates who oppose U.S. support for Israeli military operations in Gaza said Thursday that they still want Democrats to feature a Palestinian American speaker on stage.
Sabrene Odeh, an uncommitted delegate from Washington, said that “it’s incredibly soul-crushing” to have their voices shut out of the convention.
She said party leadership gave them a “flat out no” on Wednesday, leading the uncommitted delegates to spend the night outside the United Center in protest.
“The lowest bar we could set is asking for a Palestinian American to speak,” said Asma Mohammed, an uncommitted delegate from Minnesota.
The delegates represent voters from several states who chose “uncommitted” during primary votes to protest President Joe Biden’s approach to the war in Gaza.
Layla Elabed, a leader of the movement, said the goal was “not another bomb.”
Before his remarks, Trump began criticizing Harris’ record on immigration and border security, calling her “the worst vice president” as he walked and talked to a few locals near a fence.
“She was the border czar. All of a sudden she is saying she is not the border czar,” he said. “There’s never a border in the whole world that’s leaked like this border.”
Harris was tasked in March 2021 with tackling the “root causes” of migration from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — Central America's so-called “Northern Triangle” — but was not given the title of “border czar” or put in charge of border security.
He plans to look at the fence with local law enforcement and border officials, then will speak to reporters. Trump sees border security, the issue that defined his first presidential campaign, as a major liability for Harris.
Illegal border crossings reached record levels during the Biden-Harris administration, though they’ve ebbed more recently.
Trump stepped out of his SUV wearing a suit and red tie and was talking to about a dozen people who greeted him, including several wearing law enforcement uniforms.
Thursday isn’t just the biggest day of Kamala Harris’ political career as she accepts her historic presidential nomination.
It’s also her 10th wedding anniversary with Doug Emhoff.
Harris and Emhoff met on a blind date in 2013. In a speech Tuesday night, Emhoff recalled introducing himself in a rambling voicemail.
“I remember I was trying to grab the words out of the air and just put them back in my mouth,” he said.
Emhoff added that “Kamala saved that voicemail and she makes me listen to it on every anniversary.”
Patrick Gaspard, the CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the large Democratic-leaning think tank, says Vice President Kamala Harris doesn’t need to roll out detailed policy plans to win in November.
“Folks don’t vote for 10-point plans, if they did, we probably would have had President Warren emerge in that contest or Hillary Clinton’s campaign might be remembered differently,” Gaspard told reporters at a Bloomberg event at the Democratic National Convention.
He said voters are more focused on values and their perceptions of whom candidates are fighting for.
Said Gaspard: “It’s a vibes election, but guess what, every election for the last 200 years has been a vibes election. And that’s actually one of the reasons that I feel more confident today than I thought I could feel, at this point in the election.”
Hours before Harris’ DNC speech, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said he hoped “Kamala will talk about the aspirations of working families and what we, as Democrats, will do to help make their lives better.”
He said he’d be listening specifically for efforts to reduce costs on housing, prescription drugs and groceries and to create new jobs, particularly green ones — all themes Harris has spoken about while campaigning around the country recently.
“Talking about the aspirations of working families, what we can do to both lower costs and create ladders to give people greater income,” Schumer told a small group of reporters Thursday.
Asked if it felt like Trump — rather than President Joe Biden — was the incumbent given how much the Democratic convention has focused on the former president, Schumer said Harris “will also talk about the danger of Trump winning again.”
“The reason he’s mentioned so much is the great depth of the danger” Trump poses, Schumer said. “The feeling about the danger.”
Mealworms may have been what sickened a diner at a Chicago hotel earlier this week during the Democratic National Convention, the city’s police superintendent said Thursday.
While the investigation continues, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said clues point toward the foreign object being mealworms.
“I’m not sure that those were maggots,” Snelling said when asked for an update on allegations of maggots being placed in food. “There was sawdust, so they were probably mealworms. They look the same. But that’s still under investigation.”
Mealworms are common insects that have worm-like, yellow-to-brown colored bodies. They are the larval form of the mealworm beetle. Maggots are similar in appearance, but soft-bodied with white to transparent color. They are the larval stage of flies.
Multiple female suspects entered the Fairmont Chicago, which was hosting a breakfast for delegates at the DNC and began placing “unknown objects” onto tables with food before leaving the area at around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
One person who ingested the food was treated by medical personnel and released at the scene, according to Chicago police.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Donald Trump is “obsessed” with spewing hatred after the Republican nominee for president criticized Shapiro as “the highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Shapiro spoke Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention and said Trump “wants to take away our rights and our freedoms.”
Trump’s missive on social media also said Shapiro had “refused to acknowledge that I am the best friend that Israel, and the Jewish people, ever had” and that “Shapiro has done nothing for Israel.”
Asked about Trump’s statement by a reporter Thursday morning, Shapiro said “it’s clear over the last few years, Donald Trump is obsessed with me and obsessed with continuing to spew hate and division in our politics. He’s someone who has routinely peddled antisemitic tropes like this.”
Shapiro has years of experience making Trump the focus of his rhetorical attacks, first as state attorney general and now as governor.
The White House issued a statement, saying “it is antisemitic, dangerous, and hurtful to attack a fellow American by calling out their Jewish faith in a derogatory way, or perpetuating the centuries-old smear of ‘dual loyalty.’”
Asked about a small group of uncommitted delegates doing a sit-in because convention organizers haven’t including a pro-Palestinian voice among the speakers, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer recalled Vice President Kamala Harris saying when protesters interrupted her at a recent rally in Michigan that their disruptions might benefit Republican Donald Trump.
“She said, ‘Be quiet unless you want to elect Trump,’” Schumer told a small group of reporters Thursday, ahead of the convention’s final evening.
“We believe we need unity and there’s overwhelming — I have never seen such unity,” he said. “A small handful of people does not represent close to even a sliver of where the Democratic Party is right now.”
Pressed on whether a pro-Palestinian voice should have a convention speaking spot, Schumer responded, “I think Kamala Harris has had a very diverse convention.”
On Wednesday night, more than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched peacefully past a park where pro-Israel demonstrators had gathered earlier. That demonstration came a day after violent clashes between police and protesters led to 56 arrests at a much smaller, unsanctioned protest outside the Israeli Consulate in downtown Chicago.
Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said the protest Wednesday night ended without arrests and that no one was injured.
▶ Read more about DNC protests
Among the politicians on tap are Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, who was considered as a possible running mate for Harris, and his wife Gabby Giffords, a former representative who was nearly killed in a mass shooting in 2011.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a progressive leader, is scheduled to speak as well. So is former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican who became one of the few elected leaders of his party to oppose Donald Trump.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy will also deliver remarks. And Tennessee state lawmakers Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson, the “ Tennessee Three, ″ will speak. Jones and Pearson were expelled from the state Legislature for participating in a protest on gun control at the state Capitol.
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said the protest was pretty large though “not as large as we had necessarily anticipated.”
Snelling praised organizers of the Wednesday protest, saying it’s an example of how people can hold First Amendment protected demonstrations peacefully by collaborating with law enforcement ahead of time.
“Did we have a couple dustups? Sure, but those things were quickly rectified,” he said.
At a Thursday morning Trump campaign news conference in Chicago, Vivek Ramaswamy also blamed the media for what he characterized as lack of probative coverage of Harris’ policy proposals.
“Many covered for Joe Biden’s cognitive deficits in the same way that I worry the media is now covering for Kamala Harris’ policy deficits, and Americans are left holding the bag both times over.”
Ramaswamy also listed celebrities participating in this week’s DNC, portraying them as a distraction from the issues at stake in this campaign.
“I see Oprah Winfrey. I see John Legend. I see Lil Jon,” Ramaswamy said. “Great — then still tell me what she stands for.”
Trump has been largely quiet on the platform during convention programming, commenting mostly in interviews and events he’s been holding in battleground states.
The White House issued a statement on antisemitism the morning after Donald Trump criticized Josh Shapiro as “the highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Trump wrote on social media that Shapiro had “refused to acknowledge that I am the best friend that Israel, and the Jewish people, ever had.”
Herbie Ziskend, the White House principal deputy communications director, said “it is antisemitic, dangerous, and hurtful to attack a fellow American by calling out their Jewish faith in a derogatory way, or perpetuating the centuries-old smear of ‘dual loyalty.’”
He added that “President Biden and Vice President Harris believe we must come together as Americans to condemn and combat antisemitism — and hate and bigotry of all kinds.”
At a news conference Thursday morning, Carlos Trujillo, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the Organization of American States, decried Biden-Harris administration policies that “completely eliminated” Trump-era immigration achievements.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman who went from one of Trump’s GOP primary rivals to one of his most vocal surrogates, listed crime statistics for the city of Chicago. The DNC host city, Ramaswamy said, has been “ravaged and devastated ... by rampant crime worsened by the effects of illegal mass migration to this country” he blamed on the Biden-Harris administration and the vice president specifically, due to her responsibilities related to the border.
“From one kid of legal immigrants to this country to another, my message to her is, shame on you,” Ramaswamy said.
“It’s like they’re having a party. They don’t mention the border. All they do is make up lies about me,” the GOP presidential nominee complained as he called into “Fox & Friends” on Thursday morning.
Trump is set to visit the southern border in Cochise County, Arizona, on Thursday as he continues to criticize the Biden administration’s border policies.
He’s been spending the week campaigning across battleground states.
Democrats on Wednesday night argued that they’re offering leadership on the U.S.-Mexico border, working toward policy solutions rather than simply demonizing immigrants and trying to use the issue as a political motivator for their base.
Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar, from the border city of El Paso, said, “Forget what you hear on the news, I’m from there. ... When it comes to the border, hear me when I say, you know nothing, Donald Trump.”
Former President Donald Trump is taking issue with continued efforts by Democrats to tie him to the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 at this week’s Democratic National Convention.
Calling into “Fox and Friends” on Thursday ahead of the convention’s final night, Trump called the efforts “disgraceful.”
“They know I have nothing to do with it. I had no idea what it was,” he said, despite the fact that the plan — which Trump and his campaign have repeatedly disavowed — was written by many longtime former staffers. “I have no idea what Project 2025 is.”
He took particular issue with Democrats saying he would sign a federal abortion ban after appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade.
“I would never,” Trump said. “There will not be a federal ban. This is now back in the states where it belongs.”
Trump also lashed out at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, who spoke at the convention Wednesday night, calling him a “total lightweight.”
Wednesday night’s convention theme was “Freedom.” Backed by Beyoncé’s song of the same name, which the musician has authorized the Harris campaign to use, the word flashed on the video screen and in speech after speech at the United Center.
Democrats firmly tied it to the fight over reproductive rights that went into overdrive after the fall of Roe v. Wade.
But Democrats also used the freedom argument to slam Republicans on other social issues, from gay rights to the spread of book bans in schools.
More than 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched Wednesday past a park where pro-Israel demonstrators had gathered earlier.
The demonstration, which stayed largely peaceful, came a day after violent clashes between police and protesters led to 56 arrests.
As marchers passed under a new elevated train station near the United Center that was completed just before the DNC, officers were seen bringing a person to the ground on the platform above. In response, hundreds of protesters pushed against the edge of the station, banging on the glass with their hands and flag poles as they called on police to free the person. The person left through the station’s emergency exit moments later, accompanied by officers but not in handcuffs, prompting cheers from the crowd.
▶ Read more about Wednesday’s demonstrations
