Vice President Kamala Harris will complete her coup against President Joe Biden on Thursday night when she addresses the Democratic National Convention (DNC), the dysfunctional gathering of Democrats in Chicago, Illinois.
Harris’s address will cap a monthlong whirlwind since the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in July, in the immediate aftermath of which Biden dropped out of the presidential race post-debate disaster after weeks of hanging on forcing Democrats to quickly rally around Harris. The man she picked as her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, gave a 15-minute acceptance speech on Wednesday evening, which came after keynote addresses on Tuesday from the Obamas–both Barack and Michelle–and Monday from Biden himself.
A sense of euphoria has swept up Democrats in Harris’s first month atop the ticket, but throughout speeches and messages at the DNC top Democrats have consistently warned their party they are not in fact winning this election and have serious work to do if they really want to stop Republican nominee former President Donald Trump. In fact, Walz himself admitted Democrats were losing the election in his short speech on Wednesday, making a football analogy to say Democrats were down a field goal in the fourth quarter with the football and chance to score. So, now, all the attention shifts to the top of the ticket: Is Kamala Harris capable of a Tom Brady-esque comeback victory? Or is she going to choke in the moment when the spotlight is on her?
Tonight’s events will, like the rest of the DNC so far, be tightly scripted so the answers to those questions will not emerge this evening (unless Harris makes a massive mistake or something). But the pressure is building for Harris and Walz to get off the chain and start actually campaigning–they have only done pre-scripted appearances, and never have spoken off teleprompter. So, while Harris’s big night will probably contain the fake “joy” of the rest of the week, the real campaign starts tomorrow.
![](https://media.breitbart.com/media/2024/08/dnc-8-20-24-getty.png)
Vice President Kamala Harris addresses delegates during a livestream speech following a ceremonial roll call vote at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, on Aug. 20, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Another thing to watch this evening will be whether Democrats can get their candidate to the stage for her address before primetime ends. Sure, the networks will keep covering the event live and what not for big speeches no matter how late they go, but the big question is whether anyone is even watching anymore when 11 p.m. rolls around on the east coast. Democrats failed to get their main events–Biden on Monday, Obama on Tuesday, Walz on Wednesday–to the stage in primetime all week. Will they fail again on Thursday? Probably, in large because all the Democrats are laughing at the Harris campaign and senior adviser Stephanie Cutter who has frantically been calling around to them all begging them to shorten speeches. None of them are listening because most of the rest of the Democrats want their own shot at the White House in 2028 which only happens of course if Trump wins and Harris loses.
While the rest of America probably snoozes out on the Democrats as their boring convention drags on, those of us who work in the business will follow the program until its very bitter end. So, follow along here on Breitbart News for live updates with news and analysis throughout the night.
UPDATE 11:17 p.m. ET:
It appears as though that’s it, and the DNC is officially over as the balloon drop happens now. What a massive letdown–a terrible speech from Harris and no surprise appearance from Taylor Swift or Beyonce. This was the worst night of the convention by far after three other bad nights for Democrats. They are in trouble as a party.
UPDATE 11:14 p.m. ET:
Harris is done finally. One cannot help but think if she is this bad at delivering a speech on the teleprompter, how bad will she be when she is off the teleprompter? This was a train wreck for Democrats. They just hitched their wagon to a crashing train.
UPDATE 11:09 p.m. ET:
Harris keeps waving her hands around wildly while she is speaking in a very odd way.
UPDATE 11:04 p.m. ET:
Now she’s off on some tangent about Ukraine and Russia, and she offers no pathway to peace or an end to the war.
UPDATE 10:59 p.m. ET:
Harris continues to scream about Trump in an incoherent way, rambling on and on about him. The faces of members of the crowd show nervous DNC attendees as Harris continues this extremely tepid and weak speech.
UPDATE 10:55 p.m. ET:
One can’t help but think this is what happens when party insiders install someone who got zero votes as their presidential candidate–voters would have helped sort out these serious and debilitating political weaknesses on display from Harris tonight.
UPDATE 10:54 p.m. ET:
Now Harris is yelling from the podium on a section of the speech screaming “we are not going back,” in which she comes off as angry and upset about Trump. That was very ineffective and will likely turn off a lot of middle-of-the-road voters.
UPDATE 10:50 p.m. ET:
Harris is now attacking Trump, calling him an “unserious” person but now is going deep for several minutes on January 6 and then the convictions in the ridiculous weaponized New York cases against him.
UPDATE 10:48 p.m. ET:
She seems phony and weak. Her cadence seems like she’s lying and does not believe anything she is reading off the teleprompter. She’s fake as can be, and inauthentic in every sense of the word. Kamala Harris is officially in massive trouble. All these fired up Democrats in that room are going to be leaving this convention let down and unimpressed.
UPDATE 10:42 p.m. ET:
Harris’s speech is a real snoozer. She’s not connecting with people and even the response in the room seems somewhat muted.
UPDATE 10:41 p.m. ET:
Harris is focusing her remarks on her mother and this speech is not going well. She seems nervous. Her laugh betrays her.
UPDATE 10:38 p.m. ET:
Harris is focusing her opening of her speech on her upbringing and background. While establishment media folks might like it, this seems extremely fake–and is not going over well to a live television audience.
UPDATE 10:35 p.m. ET:
Harris continues repeating herself very awkwardly as the applause continues saying “thank you” many times. She opens with praise for her husband Doug Emhoff and President Joe Biden.
UPDATE 10:32 p.m. ET:
Here comes Harris on stage now. She is taking a lap around the stage waving to everyone and clapping at herself as she walks up to the podium.
UPDATE 10:30 p.m. ET:
This promotional video is dragging on for a bit, but assuming Harris is actually coming out next this is semi-impressive for the DNC that they are likely to get their principal speaker on stage before 11 p.m. on the east coast. It must of course be because the energy is fizzling in Chicago as all the other Democrats juiced as much of it out for themselves all week first.
UPDATE 10:27 p.m. ET:
Cooper is done now, and the DNC programming has shifted to a promotional video hyping Harris. So it seems like maybe no Beyonce or Taylor Swift. What a massive letdown for Democrats if so.
UPDATE 10:22 p.m. ET:
Now, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is speaking. He says he is the “last guy standing between you and the moment you’ve all been waiting for.” It’s unclear if he means Harris or some big performance from a special surprise guest.
UPDATE 10:18 p.m. ET:
Kamala Harris’s sister Maya Harris is speaking now, telling stories about growing up with her sister.
UPDATE 10:09 p.m. ET:
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), a Never Trump Republican, is speaking now at the DNC.
UPDATE 10:08 p.m. ET:
Beyonce’s team is dispelling reports she will be at the DNC:
UPDATE 10:00 p.m. ET:
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is speaking now. She says “in Lansing they call me governor, but in Detroit they call me BIG GRETCH.” She opens with an attack on Trump.
UPDATE 9:56 p.m. ET:
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), the Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate in Arizona, is speaking now at the DNC. Gallego is facing off against Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for Senate, in November.
UPDATE 9:49 p.m. ET:
Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is speaking now. It’s almost 10 p.m. on the east coast, and there is still a lot of stuff left to happen on the main stage here. So the DNC seems off the rails yet again for the fourth straight night. Looking less and less likely Harris will take the stage before primetime ends at 11 p.m. eastern.
UPDATE 9:46 p.m. ET:
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) keeps attacking Trump, including repeating the false “suckers and losers” hoax from the main stage of the DNC.
UPDATE 9:44 p.m. ET:
While the Democrats claim to be the party of democracy, they are openly trying to kick the Green Party candidate off the ballot in Wisconsin right now:
UPDATE 9:43 p.m. ET:
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) is speaking now.
UPDATE 9:37 p.m. ET:
Pink is performing her “What About Us” song right now.
UPDATE 9:34 p.m. ET:
Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) is speaking now, alongside her husband Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). Giffords, of course, survived an assassination attempt on her when she was in Congress.
UPDATE 9:28 p.m. ET:
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Joe Biden is watching the DNC from afar seeing his party throw him in the dustbin of history:
UPDATE 9:15 p.m. ET:
Actor and comedian DL Hughley is speaking now. He is falsely saying Trump does not want to debate Harris — Trump actually agreed to more debates than Harris has.
UPDATE 8:59 p.m. ET:
Apparently they are refusing now to let reporters go to the bathroom:
UPDATE 8:57 p.m. ET:
Now, apparently, there is NOT going to be a Beyonce performance?
The confusion is only going to hurt Kamala Harris and Democrats.
UPDATE 8:46 p.m. ET:
The brother of fallen Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after the January 6 riots, just spoke in a montage of DNC speakers highlighting various issues.
UPDATE 8:43 p.m. ET:
Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), the Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas running against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), is speaking now. He says that in November “I’m going to be beat Ted Cruz.”
“I’m the guy going to turn the Texas Senate seat blue,” Allred says.
Allred is referencing his time in the NFL, where he played for the Tennessee Titans for several seasons.
UPDATE 8:40 p.m. ET:
Steph Curry from the Golden State Warriors is speaking via a video into the DNC right now, aggressively endorsing Kamala Harris.
UPDATE 8:34 p.m. ET:
Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) is delivering an impassioned speech about the “climate crisis” arguing this election is all about water and air.
UPDATE 8:16 p.m. ET:
Now, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is speaking.
UPDATE 8:09 p.m. ET:
Beyonce is set to perform this evening at the DNC, per TMZ:
UPDATE 8:04 p.m. ET:
Members of the infamous “Central Park Five” are speaking now alongside Sharpton.
UPDATE 7:57 p.m. ET:
Rev. Al Sharpton is speaking now, bashing Trump repeatedly.
On the surprise speaker front, Bush’s spokesman Freddy Ford says Bush is not speaking at the DNC:
Mitt Romney, the outgoing senator from Utah, also says he is not at the DNC:
UPDATE 7:47 p.m. ET:
Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), the Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, is speaking now. She is a particularly weak Senate candidate who earlier on Thursday was warning Democrats they do not have an edge in this election. Slotkin focuses her remarks on “national security,” arguing that Democrats would do better than Republicans–even though literally nobody trusts Harris in the room with America’s adversaries on the world stage.
UPDATE 7:45 p.m. ET:
There’s tons of speculation about a possible “surprise” guest like Beyonce or Taylor Swift–but former CNN anchor Don Lemon says the guest could be former GOP president George W. Bush. Trump could be so lucky if that’s who it is:
UPDATE 7:44 p.m. ET:
Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) is speaking from the Convention floor on the main stage now. He’s doing the same usual anti-Trump platitudes we’ve become accustomed to all week. This Trump Derangement Syndrome is really tiring.
UPDATE 7:42 p.m. ET:
The Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson had a giant cow in response to a totally legitimate question outside the DNC:
UPDATE 7:38 p.m. ET:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the mostly Native American senator from Massachusetts, is speaking now at the DNC. She is screaming from the stage about “right-wing extremists.”
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