Democratic national convention 2024

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      Tim Walz accepts VP nomination and pitches voters: ‘We have the right team’

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      Minnesota governor Tim Walz accepted the Democratic party’s vice-presidential nomination by emphasizing his rural bonafides and Americana background as a teacher and coach in a more sweeping speech than the unassuming midwesterner has given before.“You might not know it, but I haven’t given a lot of big speeches like this,” Walz said as he closed out Wednesday’s Democratic convention in Chicago. “But I have given a lot of pep talks.”The former football coach laid out the metaphor as the crowd again chanted: “It’s the fourth quarter. We’re down a field goal, but we’re on offense and we’ve got the ball. We’re driving down the field, and boy do we have the right team. Kamala Harris is tough, Kamala Harris is experienced, and Kamala Harris is ready.”The pep talk capped off a well-received speech full of Walzian refrains – that he knows what small-town neighborliness is, that his time in the classroom taught him about public service. He walked out to John Mellencamp’s Small Town, amid a sea of signs that said “Coach Walz”. The crowd chanted “coach” as Walz put his hand to his heart.Almost immediately, Walz leaned in to his rural upbringing. “I grew up in Butte, Nebraska, a town of 400 people. I had 24 kids in my high school class, and none of them went to Yale,” Walz said, taking a swipe at Donald Trump’s vice-presidential pick, JD Vance.He described growing up in a small town and the tolerance that was required for respecting your neighbors. “We’ve got a golden rule,” he said, as the crowd began to finish one of his common lines on the campaign trail. “Mind your own damn business.”Walz also focused on his background in the military service, which Republicans have attacked in recent days, and as a public school teacher in Mankato, Minnesota, where he taught social studies and coached the high school football team. “Never underestimate a public school teacher,” he said.Like many other speakers on Wednesday night, he built on the days’s theme of freedom and pointed to the conservative manifesto backed by Trump allies, Project 2025.“That’s what this is all about, the responsibility we have to our kids, to each other and to the future that we’re building together, in which everyone is free to build the kind of life they want,” Walz said. “But not everyone has that same sense of responsibility. Some folks just don’t understand what it takes to be a good neighbor. Take Donald Trump and JD Vance.”“Their Project 2025 will make things much, much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives. They spent a lot of time pretending they know nothing about this. But look, I coached high school football long enough to know and trust me on this. When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re going to use it,” he said.During Walz’s speech, his family was visibly moved, with clips of his emotional son circulating as his father spoke.The main stage speech came at the end of another dynamic night at the convention. The audience heard from former president Bill Clinton and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi as well as rising stars in the party, Maryland governor Wes Moore and transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg. And there were interludes from comedian Kenan Thompson and actor Mindy Kaling.But perhaps the most rousing speech was from a surprise guest, Oprah Winfrey, the Chicago-based talk show host and political independent who called on fellow independents to rally around the Harris-Walz ticket. “Values and character matter most of all. In leadership and in life”, she said. “And more than anything, you know this is true: decency and respect are on the ballot in 2024.”Meanwhile, Walz’s place on the ticket has catapulted Minnesota to the forefront. The state isn’t a swing state, but his record is notable for Democrats. A trifecta in the Minnesota house, senate and governorship has allowed the party to pass a spate of progressive policies, including universal free school meals, gun safety measures, clean energy mandates, child tax credits and more.The North Star state featured heavily on Wednesday’s stage before Walz’s speech. John Legend and Sheila E performed a tribute to Prince, a Minneapolis native near-synonymous with the state, playing Let’s Go Crazy as the room was lit up purple.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionKeith Ellison, the Minnesota attorney general and a Walz friend, said Walz called him after the murder of George Floyd by police and asked him to prosecute the case. Walz and Harris “know that nobody is above the law, and nobody is below the law”, Ellison said.Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar introduced Walz, alongside Ben Ingman, a former student and neighbor of the Walzes. Football players and the former head coach from Walz’s Mankato West teams joined Ingman on the stage. “Tim Walz is the kind of guy who will push you out of a snowbank,” Ingman said. “I know this because Tim Walz pushed me out of a snowbank.”Klobuchar talked about how Walz’s attributes, such as how he has a viral video about changing a headlight and that he’s a “dad in plaid”, make him perfect for the VP role. “A former public school teacher knows how to school the likes of JD Vance,” she said.Elementary students from Moreland Arts & Health Sciences magnet school in St Paul, Minnesota led the pledge of allegiance; the students benefitted from the universal free school meals program that has become a key accomplishment of the Walz administration. And Jess Davis, a math teacher who was Minnesota’s teacher of the year in 2019, sang the national anthem.After the speech, the Minnesota delegation celebrated on the convention floor, chanting Walz’s name and cheering.Democratic convention highlights:

      Tim Walz rallies Democrats: ‘We’re gonna leave it on the field’

      Watch speeches from Bill Clinton, Pete Buttigieg, Josh Shapiro

      Oprah Winfrey takes swipe at Vance’s ‘childless cat lady’ comment in surprise appearance

      Here are the rising stars and politicians to watch this week

      What to know about Kamala Harris and Tim Walz More

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      Nancy Pelosi thanks Biden at convention and says Harris will ‘take us to new heights’

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      Democrats rose to their feet when Nancy Pelosi walked on stage at the United Center in Chicago for the Democratic national convention. They applauded, and then applauded louder. Pelosi waved before quieting the room.The former House speaker began by expressing her gratitude to Joe Biden, calling his term “one of the most successful presidencies of modern times”. even though she had pushed subtly but forcefully for the president to step aside.“Thank you, Joe,” she said, before turning to Kamala Harris, a fellow California Democrat who Pelosi proclaimed was “ready to take us to new heights”.Pelosi may have retired as House Democratic leader, but the convention has proven – if proof were needed – that the veteran congresswoman remains one of the most consequentially and uniquely influential power brokers in the party who can make – or break – a US president.Earlier on Wednesday, Pelosi, now House speaker emerita, was reluctant to reveal details of her conversation with Biden just over a month ago, during the deeply agonizing period before he decided to abandon his re-election bid and endorse Harris.Speaking at the University Club of Chicago, in a room paneled with stained glass, Pelosi insisted that the monumental decision was Biden’s alone to make. But pressed by Democratic strategist David Axelrod, she conceded that she believed it “essential” Democrats deny Donald Trump a second term. The cost was denying Biden one, too.“I wanted very much to protect his legacy,” she said. But her highest priority was to win the election – and not just the White House, but the House and the Senate.“A great sacrifice was made here,” said Pelosi, who will seek another term – her 20th – in November’s elections.The former speaker appeared uncomfortable with the insinuation that she was a central figure in pushing Biden to end his re-election campaign, a decision that has transformed the presidential race. Harris’s ascent has electrified Democrats and unified the party behind the new presidential ticket, which includes her running mate, Tim Walz, a former Minnesota congressman who Pelosi had also advocated for.“You have to make the decision to win, and you have to make every decision in favor of winning,” she said.Biden has denied that any one person had pushed him out of the race. Speaking to reporters on Monday, after delivering what amounted to a farewell speech at the Democratic convention, he said: “No one influenced my decision. No one knew it was coming.”Pelosi and Biden, devout Catholics who have known each other for decades, have not spoken since he ended his campaign. The rupture has weighed on Pelosi, she said. “I’ve cried over this. I’m sad about this,” she said.During his remarks in Chicago, Biden said: “All this talk about how I’m angry at all those people who said I should step down, it’s not true.”Pelosi, the daughter of a longtime Baltimore mayor and student of the city’s brass knuckle politics, shared anecdotes from her new book, The Art of Power, about her extraordinary career arc that she described as: “housewife, House member, House Speaker.”She was the first – and so far only – female speaker of the House, and was the highest ranking woman in US politics until Harris was elected to serve as the nation’s first female vice-president.“You have to be able to take a punch, you have to be able to throw a punch … for the children,” she said, a Pelosi-ism that drew laughs from the packed audience.Asked by Axelrod whether Harris should emphasize the history-making possibility of her candidacy, Pelosi said breaking what Hillary Clinton once called the “highest hardest” glass ceiling in US politics was important, but not a political message.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe prospect of Harris becoming the first woman president “brings tears to my eyes” Pelosi said, but it doesn’t necessarily bring “votes to the ballot box”.“It’s icing on the cake,” she said. “But it ain’t the cake.”Now considered one of the most powerful House speakers in modern political history, Pelosi said it wasn’t her ambition to become a member of the party leadership when she first arrived in Washington.“I became interested in running because we kept losing the elections, 94, 96, 98 and then it was 2000 I thought: ‘I’m so tired of losing,” she said.Soon after, when she made her decision to run known, Pelosi said she was met with incredulity by male colleagues, who admonished her to wait her turn.“Who said she could run?” Pelosi recalled them saying. She was told there was a “pecking order” and she wasn’t in it.“They said: ‘These people have been waiting a long time,” Pelosi recounted. “So I said: ‘Was it over 200 years?’”Democratic convention highlights:

      Tim Walz rallies Democrats: ‘We’re gonna leave it on the field’

      Watch speeches from Bill Clinton, Pete Buttigieg, Josh Shapiro

      Oprah Winfrey takes swipe at Vance’s ‘childless cat lady’ comment in surprise appearance

      Here are the rising stars and politicians to watch this week

      What to know about Kamala Harris and Tim Walz More

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      Walz, Bill Clinton and surprise Oprah: Democratic convention day three key takeaways

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      The third night of the Democratic national convention featured a surprise speech from Oprah Winfrey, along with scheduled remarks from Bill Clinton, Pete Buttigieg, Tim Walz and other major party figures, many emphasizing the “joy” of Kamala Harris’s campaign.Here are some key takeaways:1. Tim Walz’s pitch to voters: ‘We’ll turn the page on Donald Trump’Kamala Harris’s running mate gave his keynote pitch to supporters at the end of the third night of the convention, talking about his military service, coaching and teaching days, and his family’s fertility journey. He leaned into his humble roots and deployed repeated football metaphors: “I haven’t given a lot of big speeches like this, but I have given a lot of pep talks … It’s the fourth quarter. We’re down a field goal, but we’re on offense and we’ve got the ball. We’re driving down the field, and boy do we have the right team.”He called on his supporters to step up with urgency: “We got 76 days. That’s nothing. There’ll be time to sleep when you’re dead. We’re going to leave it on the field. That’s how we’ll keep moving forward. That’s how we’ll turn the page on Donald Trump. That’s how we’ll build a country where workers come first, healthcare and housing are human rights, and the government stays the hell out of your bedroom. That’s how we make America a place where no child is left hungry, where no community is left behind, where nobody gets told they don’t belong.”2. Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder, Kenan Thompson and other celebrities invigorate the crowdThe convention continued with a packed celebrity lineup. Oprah Winfrey earned huge cheers when she made an unannounced appearance. She denounced “people who would have you believe that books are dangerous and assault rifles are safe” and took a swipe at JD Vance’s “childless cat lady” comment. She put Harris’s candidacy into the historical context of other trailblazing Black women, including Tessie Prevost Williams, one of the “New Orleans Four” who helped integrate public schools. And she roused the audience with her call to action, singing the word “joy”.Saturday Night Live’s Kenan Thompson had a lively appearance, entering with a large Project 2025 book and virtually interviewing Americans who would be harmed by the rightwing agenda: “You ever see a document that can kill a small animal and democracy at the same time?”Musician Stevie Wonder urged the crowd to choose “joy over anger”. Actor Mindy Kaling gave a personal account of cooking with Harris. And musicians John Legend and Sheila E performed at the end of the night.3. Bill Clinton: ‘We need Kamala Harris, the president of joy’Bill Clinton, the 42nd president, addressed his 12th Democratic convention, reading off written notes, not the teleprompter, suggesting the speech was edited last-minute. He warned Democrats against complacency: “We’ve seen more than one election slip away from us when we thought it couldn’t happen, when people got distracted by phoney issues. This is a brutal business.” He mocked Trump for his narcissism and obsession with crowd sizes, following Barack Obama’s widely cited joke on Tuesday: “[Trump] mostly talks about himself … his vendettas, vengeance, his complaints, his conspiracies.”Clinton preached a message of unity, echoing Obama’s comments, encouraging supporters not to demean or disrespect neighbors they disagree with. He praised Joe Biden for “voluntarily” giving up power and celebrated the hope Harris has injected into the race: “If you vote for this team … you will be proud of it for the rest of your life.”4. Parents of a Hamas hostage were featured while protesters and AOC pushed for a Palestinian speakerJon Polin and Rachel Goldberg gave emotional remarks about their son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who is held hostage by Hamas. Polin praised the White House and said they had met with Harris and Biden: “They’re both working tirelessly for a hostage and ceasefire deal that will bring our precious children, mothers, fathers, spouses, grandparents and grandchildren home, and will stop the despair in Gaza.”Members of the uncommitted movement, who have been advocating for a ceasefire and arms embargo on Israel, said they welcomed the speech, but continued to advocate that a Palestinian leader get an opportunity to address the crowd. Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan, a doctor who has treated patients in Gaza, spoke on a Democratic convention panel centered on Palestinian human rights, but there hasn’t been a Palestinian American on the main stage. Gaza solidarity protesters staged a sit-in outside the convention, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on the convention to “center the humanity of the 40,000 Palestinians killed under Israeli bombardment”, posting: “To deny that story is to participate in the dehumanization of Palestinians. The @DNC must change course and affirm our shared humanity.”5. Pete Buttigieg went hard after JD Vance: ‘Doubling down on negativity’Pete Buttigieg, the US secretary of transportation, went hard after Donald Trump’s running mate: “JD Vance is one of those guys who thinks if you don’t live the life that he has in mind for you, then you don’t count, someone who said that if you don’t have kids, you have ‘no physical commitment to the future of this country’ … When I deployed to Afghanistan, I didn’t have kids … but our commitment to the future of this country was pretty damn physical. Choosing a guy like JD Vance to be America’s next vice president sends a message … They are doubling down on negativity and grievance, committing to a concept of campaigning best summed up in one word: darkness.”6. Prominent Republicans again rallied for Harris: ‘Our party acts more like a cult’Prominent Republicans and former Donald Trump supporters continued to earn loud applause at the convention, arguing that GOP voters should reject the former president, even if they don’t agree with all of Harris’s positions. “If Republicans are being intellectually honest with ourselves, our party is not civil or conservative, it’s chaotic and crazy, and the only thing left to do is dump Trump. These days, our party acts more like a cult, a cult worshiping a felonious thug,” said Geoff Duncan, former lieutenant governor of Georgia.Olivia Troye, a former homeland security adviser to then vice-president Mike Pence also spoke, saying: “Being inside Trump’s White House was terrifying. But what keeps me up at night is what will happen if he gets back there.”7. Speakers uplifted LGBTQ+ rights: ‘Trump wants to erase us’Speakers repeatedly promoted LGBTQ+ rights, offering a sharp contrast to the Republican national convention which continually featured extremist, anti-trans rhetoric. Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ+ organization, warned: “Trump wants to erase us … He would ban our healthcare, belittle our marriages, bury our stories. But we are not going anywhere. We are not going back.”Jared Polis, Colorado’s governor and the first gay man to serve as a US state governor, highlighted the anti-LGBTQ+ agenda of Project 2025: “Democrats welcome ‘weird’, but we’re not weirdos telling families who can and can’t have kids, who to marry or how to live our lives.” Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said LGBTQ+ Floridians were enduring “endless state-sponsored hate”. And Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, earned loud applause when she said: “I got a message for the Republicans and the justices of the United States supreme court: you can pry this wedding band from my cold, dead gay hand.”Democratic convention highlights:skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion

      Tim Walz rallies Democrats: ‘We’re gonna leave it on the field’

      Watch speeches from Bill Clinton, Pete Buttigieg, Josh Shapiro

      Oprah Winfrey in surprise speech

      Here are the rising stars and politicians to watch this week

      What to know about Kamala Harris and Tim Walz More