From left: Invoice Clinton, Stevie Surprise and Oprah Winfrey all introduced the DNC crowd to their toes on Wednesday.
Chip Somodevilla, Saul Loeb, Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures
cover caption
toggle caption
Chip Somodevilla, Saul Loeb, Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures
The NPR Community might be reporting reside from Chicago all through the week bringing you the newest on the Democratic Nationwide Conference.
Day 3 of the Democratic Nationwide Conference is a wrap. And whereas the night time was capped with Tim Walz accepting the celebration’s vice presidential nomination, there have been just a few different twists and turns alongside the way in which.
Oprah Winfrey made a shock look and Stevie Surprise addressed the gang earlier than performing “Increased Floor.”
Reproductive rights was once more a spotlight of the night time, together with justice and the theme of “pleasure,” as senior Democrats sought to color an image of unity beneath Kamala Harris and chaos with Donald Trump.
Catch up and watch key speeches from the night time.
Tim Walz — Minnesota governor
Popping out to standing ovation and a sea of “Coach Walz” banners within the enviornment, Tim Walz went on to ship a private and relatively quick deal with to the DNC.
He spoke of his progressive insurance policies, his admiration for Vice President Harris and his love for his household.
He ended by rousing the gang right into a chant of, “Once we combat, we win!”
Invoice Clinton — former president
Former President Invoice Clinton thanked President Biden for his service, praised Harris and emphasised the excessive stakes of the November election.
“Let’s lower to the chase. I’m too outdated to gild the lily,” stated Clinton, who just lately turned 78. “However I am nonetheless youthful than Donald Trump,” he added, to raucous applause.
“In 2024, now we have a transparent alternative: ‘We The Folks’ versus ‘Me, Myself, and I,'” Clinton continued. “We The Folks” was the Wednesday theme of the conference.
Oprah Winfrey — media proprietor
Oprah Winfrey, the media mogul and influential discuss present host, gave a thunderous speech endorsing the Harris-Walz marketing campaign.
“We’re now so fired up, we will’t wait to depart right here and do one thing, and what we’re gonna do is elect Kamala Harris as the following president of the USA,” she stated.
Pete Buttigieg — transportation secretary
Earlier than a cheering crowd, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg homed in on the theme of “pleasure” that the Harris marketing campaign has been leaning into.
“The make-up of my kitchen desk, the existence of my household is only one instance of one thing that was actually not possible as just lately as 25 years in the past when an anxious teenager rising up in Indiana questioned if he would ever discover belonging on this world,” he stated.
He known as for “higher politics” and an finish to Trump’s “politics of darkness.”
Amanda Gorman — poet
Along with musical and comedic performances by the likes of Stevie Surprise and Kenan Thompson, Amanda Gorman delivered a poem to awaken the viewers in celebration of Harris. In tune with the night time’s theme of freedom, Gorman spoke of the “audacity of hope” and vitality of voting on this election.
Wes Moore — Maryland governor
“I joined the Military once I was 17. In actual fact, I used to be too younger to signal the paperwork. I needed to ask my mother signal the paperwork for me as a result of I haven’t got bone spurs,” he stated.
Trump’s Vietnam deferment was purportedly for bone spurs.
Stevie Surprise — musician
Stevie Surprise was on the docket to carry out, but additionally took to the rostrum to energise the gang and preach a message of peace.
“We should select braveness over complacency. It’s time to rise up and go vote,” the singer-songwriter stated. “Although our hearts have been overwhelmed and damaged, past prayer I do know the significance of motion. And now’s the time to know the place we’re and what it’s going to take to win.”
Geoff Duncan — former Georgia lieutenant governor
Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan joined a slate of fellow Republicans to pledge their help to Harris on Wednesday, portray Trump as a elementary risk to American democracy.
“I’m a Republican, however tonight I stand right here as an American,” Duncan instructed the cheering crowd. “An American who cares extra about the way forward for this nation than the way forward for Donald Trump.”
Duncan publicly distanced himself from the Republican Get together in 2020 when he pushed again on Trump’s lie that the election had been stolen from him.
Olivia Julianna — content material creator
For the primary time, tons of of social media creators had been invited to cowl the DNC.
Amongst them is Olivia Julianna, who’s not simply making content material however spoke Wednesday night time on the conference. She instructed All Issues Thought-about that she does not faux to be unbiased, and as an alternative sees herself as an activist.
“My primary objective is to influence folks to become involved in politics, to assist them perceive how authorities works,” she stated.
Alexis McGill Johnson — Deliberate Parenthood president
Deliberate Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson took the stage following speeches from a number of leaders of distinguished advocacy teams, together with one in every of her Deliberate Parenthood predecessors, Cecile Richards.
“We can’t name ourselves a free nation when girls aren’t free,” she stated, talking intimately in regards to the challenges confronted by these searching for reproductive care and abortion entry in America.
Olivia Troye — former Trump administration nationwide safety official
Olivia Troye, a nationwide safety official within the Trump administration, stated being a part of his White Home “was terrifying.”
Troye, a Latina and baby of immigrants, stated she is now proud to help Harris as a result of she believes in “defending our freedom.”
Troye was a Homeland Safety and Counterterrorism adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence however left the White Home in August 2020 after seeing what she stated had been the dangers Trump’s management posed to the nation.
Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg — mother and father of Hersh Goldberg-Polin who’s held hostage by Hamas
An emotional Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, mother and father of Hersh Goldberg-Polin held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7, took to the rostrum calling for a cease-fire deal in order that the 109 remaining Hamas hostages can return dwelling.
Polin and Goldberg have taken to carrying a bit of tape with the variety of days their son has been held captive written in marker and positioned on their chest. Right this moment it learn: 320.
Goldberg struggled to talk as the gang chanted “Carry them dwelling!”
NPR’s Bruce Grant helped produce this piece.