Michelle Obama headlines Democratic convention tonight as party aims to broaden its appeal
Former first lady Michelle Obama, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo are the among headliners for the first night of programming, which is emceed by actress Eva Longoria.
The convention opened with a virtual choir singing the National Anthem and interviews with Americans grappling with the pandemic and the economic strife, voters who were interviewed by Longoria. The subdued proceedings felt unusual without the typical raucous crowd that such events are usually greeted by as the Democratic Party took on the undertaking of the first convention in the time of coronavirus.
There were awkward moments, but also powerful ones, such as when Philonise Floyd — the brother of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed when a White police officer held him down with a knee on his neck — called for a moment of silence to remember Black people killed by law enforcement.
Party officials have said that Monday’s theme will be “We the People” — with remarks focused on how the country can unite and move forward.
But there are fireworks in store from the former first lady, one of the most admired figures in the Democratic Party.
Michelle Obama will deliver a sharply worded critique of Trump as “the wrong President for our country,” calling him a leader who is unfit for office and “in over his head,” an adviser told CNN’s Jeff Zeleny.
“It’s very strong, tough and personal,” the adviser said. “Tonight, she doesn’t hold back.”
In her taped address, she will also serve as a character witness for Biden, who she will call “a profoundly decent man guided by his faith” and someone who served as a “terrific vice president” to her husband.
“He knows what it takes to rescue an economy, beat back a pandemic and lead our country. And he listens,” Michelle Obama said in the released video. “He will tell the truth and trust science. He will make smart plans and mange a good team and he will govern as someone who has lived a life the rest of us can recognize.”
“Joe knows the anguish of sitting at a table with an empty chair. Which is why he gives his time so freely to grieving parents,” Obama said in the video, adding that Biden also hands out his personal phone number to children trying to overcome a stutter as he did as a young man. “His life is a testament to getting back up. And he is going to channel that same grit and passion to pick us all up — to help us heal and guide us forward.”
Trump’s record on race in the spotlight
Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser described the moment in her city when the Trump administration ordered riot police to move in on peaceful protesters in early June to clear Lafayette Square for a presidential photo op.
“He stood in front of one of our most treasured houses of worship and held a Bible for a photo op,” Bowser said, referring to Trump’s appearance in front of St. John’s Church across from the White House. “He sent troops in camouflage into our streets. He sent tear gas into the air — and federal helicopters, too. I knew if he did this to DC, he would do it to your city or your town. And that’s when I said, ‘Enough.’ I said ‘enough’ for every Black and Brown American who has experienced injustice; ‘enough’ for every American who believes in justice.”
Bowser said she commissioned Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington “as a place where we could come together to say: ‘Enough.’ “
“By coming together this November to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, we will say: ‘Next,'” she said.
Bowser introduced Philonise Floyd, who called for justice for other Black men and women who have been killed by police and then remembered his brother with a moment of silence.
“George had a giving spirit, a spirit that has shown up on the streets around our nation, and around the world—people of all races, all ages, all genders, all backgrounds—peacefully protesting in the name of love and unity,” Floyd said, mentioning the names of others who have died in police custody, including Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Eric Garner.
“It’s up to us to carry on the fight for justice,” he said. “Our actions will be their legacies.”
During the moving moment of silence that followed, the Democrats’ convention feed showed voters around the nation reflecting on their deaths with their heads bowed.
Sanders aims to avoid intraparty fight
Tying together the unity theme of the night, Sanders hopes to galvanize the many young, progressive voters who supported his campaign four months after he abandoned his own White House bid and backed Biden.
He will urge Democrats in his speech to come together and “remove the most dangerous President in history,” because he will say “the price of failure is just too great to imagine.”
It’s a stark contrast to the 2016 convention, when Sanders and his delegates kept the pressure on Hillary Clinton and her campaign until the very end, with numerous signs of divisions playing out during votes on the party’s platform and on the convention floor.
Biden and Sanders have not seen each other in person since that one-on-one debate in March but the two speak regularly, the aide said, as their teams have worked closely since April on policy and efforts to unite the party.
Sanders is expected to rally progressives and all Democrats around Biden’s candidacy and send a message to those who backed other candidates in the primary, or voted for President Trump in 2016, and argue that the future of democracy and the economy is at stake and warning “the price of failure is just too great to imagine.”
Republicans against Trump speak at the DNC
In an effort to broaden the party’s appeal at a time when a new CNN poll shows the race between Biden and President Donald Trump tightening, Democrats added three Republican women to Monday night’s lineup, which was already slated to include former Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich.
Meg Whitman, the 2010 Republican nominee for governor of California who backed Hillary Clinton in 2016, will speak during Monday’s program, along with Susan Molinari, a former Republican congresswoman from New York, and Christine Todd Whitman, who headed the Environmental Protection Agency under former President George W. Bush and is also the former governor of New Jersey.
The number of “Republicans for Biden” groups have been steadily growing, with high-profile organizations like the Lincoln Project and others gaining significant attention in their fight against Trump.
The Biden campaign decided against including the Lincoln Project in its convention, a senior Democratic official said.
The speech from Kasich is designed to move Republicans concerned with Trump, but it’s also intended to combat the argument from the Trump campaign that the Biden-Harris ticket is a radical, liberal one. It’s aimed at independents — men and women — to give yet another permission slip to vote against Trump and for Biden.
There has been blowback for their inclusion from progressive groups, but a senior Biden adviser said these speeches were intentionally placed on Monday — on the same evening as Sanders — to show that Biden’s candidacy has a big tent.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
CNN’s Arlette Saenz and Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.
