- The DNC, the biggest event of the year for the party, officially selected US Vice President Kamala Harris as her candidate for the 2024 US presidential election against Donald Trump, who is seeking a second term.
- The four-day event in Chicago kicked off yesterday with Joe Biden delivering a fiery speech against Mr Trump, calling him a “loser”. “He called soldiers who gave their lives for this country idiots and losers. Who does he think he is?” asked Mr Biden. “Trump bows to (Vladimir) Putin. I have never done that and Kamala Harris will never do that,” President Biden said.
- On day one, President Biden criticized Mr. Trump’s “America First” doctrine, which he said had damaged the country’s global image, and contradicted his administration’s efforts to unite Europe and counter Russian aggression.
- Kamala Harris will give a major speech on the last day of the event on August 22, but one of the most notable speakers today will be her husband, Doug Emhoff, a successful attorney. If Harris wins, Emhoff will be the first “First Gentleman” of the United States.
- The convention was also a farewell event for Joe Biden, who withdrew his nomination in an unprecedented move in modern American electoral history. In 1968, President Lyndon B Johnson announced in the midst of the Vietnam War that he would not seek re-election.
- The fiery speech was followed by a four-minute standing ovation and a surprise appearance by Kamala Harris to thank President Biden for being “incredible.”
- “I love you,” the 81-year-old president told a tearful crowd as it erupted in deafening cheers, less than a month after he dropped out of the White House race against Donald Trump and handed the reins to his vice president.
- Today, former US President Barack Obama will hand over the reins of the party’s future to Ms Harris. Obama posted on social media that his Democratic National Convention address will speak about “what’s at stake” and why Harris and her running mate Tim Walz “must be our next president and vice president”.
- Kamala Harris will hold a rally before Obama’s speech at the Milwaukee Basketball Arena, where Trump attended the Republican Convention just a month ago. The 18,000-seat arena has been deliberately chosen to irritate Trump, who is upset to see the US President’s deputy fill the venue. In a recent poll, Ms Harris had a slight lead against Donald Trump.
- Apart from Obama, Hillary Clinton – the first woman to receive the nomination of a major US party for the presidential election, also addressed the delegates yesterday. “As president, she (Kamala Harris) will always have our backs and she will be a warrior for us. She will fight to lower the cost of living for working families, open the doors to good-paying jobs and, yes, she will fight to restore abortion rights across the country,” Ms Clinton said.