Live: DNC Day 4 underway as Democrats get closer to officially having their candidate
Bart Jansen, Maureen Groppe, John Fritze and Ledyard King USA TODAYFollow Day 4 for the Democratic National Convention with our live blog. Be sure to refresh the page for the latest version.
Newsom talks climate change at DNC as fires rage
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says wildfires raging in his state should give pause to anyone who denies climate change.
Newsom spoke at the virtual Democratic National Convention on Thursday from a forest near California’s Central Coast after visiting a nearby Red Cross evacuation center.
More than two dozen major wildfires were blazing across California, blanketing cities and towns in smoke and putting tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders.
Newsom recorded the video after choosing to scrap the prerecorded video he originally recorded.
“I confess this is not where I expected to be speaking here tonight,” he said in a video recorded on a cellphone.
He added, “If you are in denial about climate change, come to California.”
Newsom criticized President Donald Trump for working to roll back vehicle emission standards meant to curb climate change and for threatening to withhold funding from California.
- Associated Press
Buttigieg to appear after tribute to Beau
Former Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s appearance on the final night of the convention will come right after a tribute to Joe Biden’s late son, Beau.
That may be intentional.
When Buttigieg dropped out of the presidential race in March and endorsed his former rival, Biden paid him his “highest compliment.”
"I don't think I've ever done this before, but he reminds me of my son Beau," Biden said of Buttigieg. "That may not mean much to most people, but to me, it's the highest compliment I can give any man or woman."
Biden said that Buttigieg, like Beau, has a backbone “like a ramrod.”
Beau Biden died of cancer at age 46 in 2015.
— Maureen Groppe
Who is speaking today?
Besides Biden, other Democratic convention speakers will including federal, state and local officials discussing the theme of "America's Promise."
Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, who holds Biden's seat in the chamber, nominated him Tuesday.
Voting rights will be discussed during the night. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson will each speak.
“We have cried out for justice, we have gathered in our streets to demand change, and now, we must pass on the gift John Lewis sacrificed to give us, we must register and we must vote," Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in prepared remarks.
The pandemic is another subject on the agenda. Dr. Vivek Murthy, a former surgeon general, is scheduled to speak.
A video tribute will honor military families. Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Army veteran who lost her legs in a helicopter crash, will speak. She was among the candidates Biden considered for running mate.
Former Biden rivals in the primaries – Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind. – will each be speaking. Buttigieg, who served in Afghanistan with the Navy Reserve, will speak after a video tribute to the nominee's late son, Beau Biden, whose Army National Guard unit deployed to Iraq.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is the first woman elected to the chamber from Wisconsin, a key presidential battleground, is set to speak. She and Buttigieg are each gay.
Biden's former rivals for the nomination will speak about how they united behind him. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg will be the last politician to speak before Biden.
Biden's children and grandchildren will talk about his commitment to his family as an introduction to his speech accepting the nomination.
Nun and social justice advocate to give invocation
In a nod to Joe Biden’s faith, the invocation on the final night of the convention will be given by Sister Simone Campbell, a Roman Catholic nun.
One in five voters in 2016 were Catholic, according to the Pew Research Center. More than half (52%) voted for Donald Trump and 44% voted for Hillary Clinton. That was a closer split than the 17 percentage point gap in support for Trump among Protestants, a group that includes white evangelicals who voted overwhelmingly for Trump.
In a June Pew Research Center survey, 52% of all Catholics supported Biden’s candidacy but Trump was still carrying white Catholics.
In October, a Catholic priest in South Carolina said he had denied Holy Communion to Biden because of the candidate’s views on abortion.
Biden has dropped his longstanding support for the Hyde Amendment, which blocks federal funding for abortion in most cases.
Campbell, a social justice advocate, spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in a denunciation of Republican spending priorities.
After Campbell’s prayer Thursday, Delaware Sen. Chris Coons will deliver a "deep and personal" testament to his home state colleague’s faith.
“The Joe I know is someone who believes in the power of prayer and who turns to God for strength in moments of hardship and joy,” Coons wrote in an opinion piece published by Fox News Thursday. “Faith is a core part of who we are – and since our founding, it’s been a core part of America, too.”
— Maureen Groppe
How Biden will be introduced
The Biden campaign and Democratic National Convention released part of the introductory video that will play Thursday night before Biden speaks.
Watch the 1:10 clip below.
— Delaware News Journal
Delaware officials will watch Biden's speech from their cars
A DNC watch party of sorts is planned in the parking lot of Frawley Stadium, Erik Raser-Schramm, chairman of the Delaware Democratic Party, confirmed.
Elected officials ranging from the general assembly to Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki and New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer are among the invites. So, too, are Delaware's delegates.
Gov. John Carney and Sen. Tom Carper announced Biden as the official Democratic nominee Tuesday night when they pledged all 32 delegate votes to the former vice president.
Attendees will watch on a large screen in the parking lots and will remain in their cars during Biden's speech.
Raser-Schramm said Biden and wife, Jill, may come out after and give a wave. Fireworks are also expected.
"It really is a Delaware-specific thing," Raser-Schramm said.
— Jeff Neiburg and Jeanne Kuang, Delaware News Journal
Wisconsin Republicans feel Biden misfired in VP pick
Andrew Hitt, the chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, indicated that Joe Biden might have missed out on making a better pick for vice president.
U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris is Biden’s running mate.
But Hitt made the case that U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin might have made more sense.
“Passing on Tammy Baldwin is just another example of Joe Biden not taking Wisconsin seriously and taking Wisconsin for granted and ignoring Wisconsin,” Hitt said during a conference call. “He picks a liberal senator (Harris) and he picks that liberal senator from California, a state you’re going to win. If you’re going to pick a liberal senator why not pick a liberal senator from a state that you need to win?
“It just continues to confuse me why they are vehemently ignoring Wisconsin and not learning from the lesson of Hillary Clinton,” he said.
Hitt and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany criticized Democrats and Biden for bypassing Wisconsin for much of the convention. Democrats were forced to make dramatic changes and create a virtual convention because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Hitt will be one four Wisconsin representatives going to next week’s Republican National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.
Also going to Charlotte are Republican National Committee members Tom Schreibel and Mary Buestrin and Charlotte Rassmussen, who is on the RNC credentialing committee.
Hitt said the Wisconsin delegation leaves Friday for meetings Saturday, Sunday and Monday, which will conclude with the official nomination of President Donald Trump.
“We’re still going there,” he said. “There’s still an economic impact.”
— Bill Glauber, Milwaukee Sentinel
Emhoff debuts as second-gentleman nominee
Doug Emhoff, the spouse of Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for vice president, told a virtual meeting Thursday of the LGBTQ Caucus that he didn’t expect to be on the campaign trail, but that he was proud to support his wife.
“I’m so proud of her,” Emhoff said in his first campaign remarks supporting the ticket. "Being out here on the presidential campaign trail talking about Joe and Kamala is not something I've ever really expected to be doing.”
Earl Fowlkes, chair of the Democratic National Committee's LGBTQ Caucus and CEO of the Center for Black Equity, said he was excited to have Emhoff speak.
"I have the pleasure to introduce someone who's going to be a major force in our country," Fowlkes said. "And actually, I'm tingling.”
Emhoff said he was assigned to describe his and Harris’ biographies. Emhoff, 55, was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and raised in New Jersey before moving to Los Angeles in high school. After attending college and law school, he became a father to Cole and Ella, who helped introduce Harris for her acceptance speech Wednesday. Emhoff said he met Harris on an "old-school blind date," a story she details at length in her memoir. Saturday is their sixth anniversary.
"I got a congratulatory voicemail from none other than Joe Biden!” Emhoff said after the couple became engaged. “He is such a great guy and believe it or not, I still have that message saved on my home."
Emhoff said he could talk about what Harris planned to accomplish in office, but that she could do that herself.
"Now, it should come as no surprise to you that in addition to being a great mom, I am confident that my wife Kamala Harris will make a great vice president,” Emhoff said.
— Bart Jansen
Hunter Biden to speak at Democratic convention
Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and a focal point for GOP scorn, will speak during the final night of the party’s national convention on Thursday.
President Donald Trump and other Republicans have heaped criticism on Hunter Biden for business dealings he had in Ukraine and China, arrangements they said he received because his father was vice president. The Trump campaign launched a two-minute digital ad Thursday focused on Hunter Biden.
The Biden family and campaign have denied the arrangements were inappropriate.
Hunter Biden and sister Ashley Biden will speak in the lead up to Joe Biden’s formal acceptance of the nomination. The convention will also feature a video on Beau Biden, the former Attorney General of Delaware who died of brain cancer in 2015.
— John Fritze
Via PakapNews