The third day of the Democratic National Convention was gaveled out by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).
The third day concluded with the night’s main event, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s acceptance speech as the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee.
The convention will resume at 6:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 22.
CHICAGO—Towards the end of a brief acceptance speech as Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz unveiled a vision that appeared to entail greater state support, or control, on economic issues and less state involvement on social issues.
Walz's speech closed out the third night of the DNC with a gesture to the left wing of the Democrats, who helped push for his selection as Harris’s running mate.
CHICAGO—Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told the audience at the Democratic National Convention while he hasn't given as many big speeches like this, he does have experience in giving “pep talks.”
Walz, a former high school football coach who has been called “Coach Tim” by several speakers at the convention, closed his speech Wednesday night with a series of sports analogies.
“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,” he said to cheers from the audience.
CHICAGO—Gov. Tim Walz followed several other speakers during the last three days of the Democratic National Convention by calling out Project 2025.
“Project 2025 will make things much, much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives,” he said on Aug. 21.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has distanced itself from the agenda, which was created by the Heritage Foundation as a proposed policy platform for a conservative president.
CHICAGO—Early in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made a plea for continued access to fertility treatments such as IVF.
He said that includes access to IVF fertilization and other fertility treatments, which he described as “personal” for himself and his wife, who relied on fertility treatment to have their daughter, Hope.
In Minnesota, he said, “we’ve got a golden rule: Mind your own damn business.”
CHICAGO—Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to accept the party's nomination for vice president.
“It’s the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States,” Walz said, thanking Vice President Kamala Harris for naming him as her running mate.
CHICAGO—Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to vouch for Gov. Tim Walz.
In America, we look out for our neighbors, she said, and “Tim has been doing that his whole life.”
“On the farm and in the factory with his students and his fellow service members, and the truth is, that matters,” she said.
CHICAGO—Singers John Legend and Sheila E. took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to perform the music of iconic rock artist “Prince” Rodgers, who passed away in 2016.
Prince was a native Minnesotan, and the entire performance was an indirect nod toward Gov. Tim Walz’s state ahead of his speech later in the evening.
Sheila E. doubled on drums during the performance. She and Prince were colleagues and collaborated on the award-winning album “Purple Rain.”
CHICAGO—Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said at the Democratic National Convention that he thinks “America is ready for a better kind of politics.
“Yes, politics at its worst can be ugly, crushing, demeaning—but it doesn’t have to be,” Buttigieg said. “At its best, politics can be empowering, uplifting.”
Throughout the convention Democrats have sought to portray themselves as less political than their Republican opponents and former President Donald Trump.
CHICAGO—Oprah Winfrey called on independent voters to choose based on “values and character” in the upcoming presidential election, saying that common sense mandated a Harris–Walz vote.
“Let us choose inclusion over retribution; let us choose common sense over nonsense,” she said during her speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Winfrey said she is a registered independent voter, who votes regularly.
CHICAGO—During a surprise late-night appearance at the Democratic National Convention, daytime TV star Oprah Winfrey said that “there is no American dream” without access to abortion.
Winfrey cited personal stories about abortion related to the convention over the previous three days, including harrowing experiences related to rape, incest, or a medical threat to the mother’s life.
CHICAGO—Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.), who was reportedly on a shortlist to be Kamala Harris’s vice presidential pick before Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz got the nod, sought to rally support for her in November’s presidential election while speaking at the Democratic National Convention.
“Let's do the hard work necessary to win this election and write the next chapter in our American story,” Shapiro said. He praised Harris’s career, while criticizing “banned books,” abortion opposition, and Trump’s disputing the results of the 2020 election.
He also alluded to the impact of Harris being the first woman president, and the effect it would have on young women. “It's on us, my friends, to organize in our communities,” he said.
CHICAGO—Former President Bill Clinton sought to contrast Vice President Kamala Harris with her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.
“Kamala Harris is the only candidate in this race who has the vision, the experience, the temperament, the will … and yes, the sheer joy to get something done,” Clinton said.
CHICAGO—Former President Bill Clinton praised President Joe Biden’s decision to step down during his address at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night.
“He did something that’s really hard for a politician to do—he voluntarily gave up political power,” Clinton said.
CHICAGO—Retired U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell described his experience during the Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2021, during his speech at the Democratic National Convention.
He spoke about being assaulted by someone wielding a pole with the American flag still attached.
“On January 6 I nearly died protecting the Capitol, and I would do it again for democracy,” Gonell said. He blamed former President Donald Trump for the Capitol breach and the violence that occurred on the day.
CHICAGO—Music legend Stevie Wonder urged peace, love, and understanding, coupled with swift political action before his performance at the Democratic National Convention.
“Every song that I’ve sung, every song that I’ve written is because of my love for you right here,” he said, adding that he prays for the peace of nations and individual hearts.
CHICAGO—Two more Republicans took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to speak out in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Olivia Troye, a former homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, was first to take the stage.
“I grew up in the kind of working family that Trump pretends to care about—conservative, Catholic, Texan. July 4 was our most sacred holiday,” Troye said.
CHICAGO—Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said that Vice President Kamala Harris has been tough on the border throughout both her legal and political careers.
“Kamala Harris is not weak,” Murphy said. “For 20 years, Kamala Harris has been tough as nails when it comes to securing our borders.
“When she was a California prosecutor, she went after drug smugglers, human traffickers. She put 100 gang members away in a single sweep.”
CHICAGO—Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) said at the DNC that former President Donald Trump and Republicans view the challenges at the U.S.–Mexico border as political leverage.
Escobar went on to praise Vice President Kamala Harris, who she said recognized the border issue as “complicated” and “as filled with opportunities as it is with challenges.”
Harris has served as border czar since President Joe Biden appointed her in March 2021 to address the root causes of illegal immigration into the United States.
CHICAGO—Attendees at the Democratic National Convention chanted “bring them home” as the parents of a young man being held hostage by Hamas addressed the crowd.
The third night of the Democratic National Convention kicked off just before 6 p.m. CT on Aug. 21.
Vice presidential hopeful Tim Walz will give the keynote address sometime after 9 p.m. He will be preceded by Benjamin C. Ingman, one of his former students, as well as Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and other party leaders at the federal and state levels.
Between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. former President Bill Clinton, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Pennsylvania’s Gov. Josh Shapiro will take the stage.
CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign manager says the possibility of independent candidate RFK Jr. dropping out and endorsing former President Donald Trump will not make a difference in November. The statement was made after the Kennedy campaign revealed it will make an announcement regarding the future of the candidate's presidential run on Aug. 23.
“We are very confident that the vice president is going to win, whether she’s running against one candidate or multiple candidates,” Jen O’Malley Dillon said at a Politico event at the Democratic National Convention.
“I do think we are the underdog. We feel very good about where we are in terms of what we’re seeing in terms of our own data and the polling,’ she said.
CHICAGO—The parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin are scheduled to address the DNC tonight.
For Rachel Goldberg and Jonathan Polin, it has been more than 300 days since their son was taken into Gaza by Hamas along with about 250 other hostages on Oct. 7, 2023.
Goldberg-Polin, who also holds Israeli citizenship, is one of eight American hostages being held by the U.S.-designated terrorist group.
CHICAGO—David Hovde, a representative of the pro-Palestinian “Christians for Ceasefire,” explained to The Epoch Times why he believes Christians should back a cease-fire in Gaza.
“Palestinians are human beings … and they’re being treated as if they’re subhuman,” Hovde said. “I think we need to wake up and stop arming Israel—God loves everyone.”
CHICAGO—A self-described “yippie” at the pro-Palestinian demonstrations near the Democratic National Convention praised the Chicago Police Department’s handling of protests that became violent Tuesday night.
The man, who identified himself as “Captain Joint,” said he was involved in the often-intense left-wing protests that marked the late 1960s and early 1970s. At the time, members of the Youth International Party were often called "yippies."
CHICAGO—Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was considered one of the finalists in the Democrats’ veepstakes, discussed his hopes for the future of America with The Epoch Times.
“My hope for America is that we protect our fundamental freedoms and that we recognize that ‘E pluribus unum’—Out of many, one—is not just something from our past, but our direction for our future,” he said.
“And with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz leading the way. I know we're going to know that at the ballot box in November.”
CHICAGO—Movie legend Spike Lee made his presence felt at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago—appearing during his home state of New York’s roll call on the second night and seen on his way into the event on Aug. 21.
He said Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign is one for the record books and noted a need to keep the momentum to achieve victory in November.
CHICAGO—Former Trump campaign adviser David Urban told The Epoch Times he sees the 2024 presidential election ending in victory for former President Donald Trump.
“I helped the president in 2016 win, and this feels a lot like ‘16 to me,” Urban told The Epoch Times.
“I was just in Pennsylvania with the president on Saturday,” he said. “There's a huge deal of energy. We've got new voters in the African American community and Hispanic community who weren't with us before and who are with us now," he said.
CHICAGO—As Democrats at the DNC make their case for how Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz can attract independent voters, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) told The Epoch Times that a focus on compassionate projects such as affordable housing could bridge that gap.
“I do believe that people are willing to do, perhaps, what they haven't done before and vote for a team that comes with a good background … a record of having done good for people and understanding,” Waters said.
CHICAGO—Former Illinois Republican congressman Joe Walsh, an anti-Trump, “proud Tea Party conservative,” says that Vice President Kamala Harris can win by being “normal.”
Asked by The Epoch Times how Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz could reach undecided voters, the one-term lawmaker said, “Be normal. Be regular. Be like most everyday Americans … point out how dangerous and weird Trump is, and tell us what you're going to do.”
Walsh said that Harris should “pound” Trump in at least some of her acceptance speech, then portray a vision for the future.
Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will address the country on Aug. 23 amid mounting speculation that the candidate will drop out.
On Aug. 21, the principal campaign committee, Team Kennedy, announced that Kennedy would speak to the nation live on Aug. 23 about the “present historical moment and his path forward.”
The announcement of the address was made a day after his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said the campaign is considering dropping out and endorsing former President Donald Trump.
CHICAGO—State and federal representatives from Pennsylvania and Maryland, speaking at a gathering of delegates on Wednesday morning, called for large voter turnout that tips the scales in the upcoming election.
“We can’t win just by a little bit,” Vince Hughes, Pennsylvania state senator, told a crowd of several hundred delegates at a breakfast held at the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago.
CHICAGO—A congressman serving on the House Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence committees highlighted during an Aug. 21 press conference what he believes are flaws in the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and suggested that a prospective Harris presidency could jeopardize national security.
“The world is in chaos,” Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) said. “This is not day one for Kamala Harris. This is year four, and she owns every one of the bad decisions that has the Middle East on fire and China on the march in the South China Sea threatening our allies.”
CHICAGO—Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling confirmed that three reporters were among those apprehended during chaotic protests near the Israeli consulate on Aug. 20.
He estimated 55 to 60 individuals were arrested in total.
“There are times when we’re calling a mass arrest … we need you guys to step to the side,” Snelling told reporters as part of a joint press conference with other officials.
CHICAGO—Superintendent Larry Snelling of the Chicago Police Department estimated that 55 to 60 people were arrested during Tuesday night’s protests outside the Israeli consulate.
“Last night was a danger to our city and a danger to our citizens,” Snelling told reporters during a joint press conference with other local and federal authorities. “We attempted to avoid the clash to no avail.”
He said the exact number of arrests will be provided later.
After President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama closed the first two nights of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, former President Bill Clinton will star in the primetime schedule on night three.
Clinton, a two-term Democrat president who remained popular with his party long after he left office in 2000, will precede the keynote speech by Vice President Kamala Harris's running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, according to a roster revealed by conventional officials on Wednesday morning.
Following tradition, Walz's speech will set up Harris's Aug. 22 speech, which will cap off the convention and set the tone for the last three months of her party's campaign.
Democratic candidates raised more than $200 million during the whirlwind month of July.
On Aug. 20, a pair of committees tied to the Harris campaign published financial disclosures with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) showing the campaign had more than $344 million in cash on hand at the beginning of August.
The principal campaign committee, now known as Harris for President, brought in more than $204.4 million in July. According to FEC disclosures, the committee spent $80.7 million and entered August with $219.7 million. The July haul was far greater than any other amount collected by the campaign committee in the preceding six months of 2024.
CHICAGO—James Hepworth, a delegate from the southern Minneapolis suburb of Apple Valley, will be among thousands of DNC delegates to witness Gov. Tim Walz’s speech accepting the vice presidential nomination on Aug. 21.
Hepworth has known Walz for a long time. Six years ago, when Hepworth was in intensive care recovering from a heart attack, he received a call from Walz.
“My family’s all there with me, and my telephone rings and it’s Tim Walz, ‘Jim, are you OK?’” Hepworth told The Epoch Times from the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on Aug. 20.
In the first month with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the party’s ticket, the Democratic Party seized the fundraising lead from the Republican Party.
On Aug. 20, committees affiliated with the United States’ major political parties published financial disclosures covering their July activities.
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show that the main Democratic bodies collectively raised about $63.3 million during the month, while the main Republican committees raised about $59.6 million.
CHICAGO—Democratic Party delegates from across the country officially selected Vice President Kamala Harris as their presidential nominee on day two of the convention in Chicago.
The packed crowd in the United Center heard from former President Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, and two notable Republicans who crossed party lines to endorse Harris this year.
As Democrats cheered their leaders in the arena, protesters continued to clash with police, resulting in multiple arrests as a frantic atmosphere brewed throughout the streets.
CHICAGO—Former President Barack Obama endorsed Kamala Harris’s presidential bid at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Aug. 20, adding to the backing offered by Hillary Clinton and President Joe Biden.
“The torch has been passed,” Obama said, referring to Biden’s exit from the race in favor of Harris. “Now it’s up to all of us to fight for the America we believe in.”
“America is ready for a new chapter,” Obama said. “America’s ready for a better story. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris.”
CHICAGO—A pro-Palestinian protest outside the Israeli consulate in Chicago led to violent clashes and arrests on the evening of Aug. 20, day two of the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
The demonstration, organized by the group Behind Enemy Lines, marks a non-permitted escalation in the conflict between mainstream Democrats and pro-Palestinian activists. The latter objects to the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel’s war against Hamas.
In the hours leading up to the first outbreak of violence, hundreds of protestors had gathered near downtown Chicago outside Accenture Tower, the home of the Israeli consulate. Chants of “intifada,” an Arabic word for rebellion or uprising, were heard among the crowd. Another chant, “The whole world is watching!” deliberately recalled the 1968 Democratic National Convention, also held in Chicago.