Former President Barack Obama will address supporters Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention Wednesday and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., accepts the party’s nomination for vice president — making official her place in history as the first Black woman and first person of Indian descent to be nominated for national office by a major political party.
Under Democrats’ theme of “A More Perfect Union,” Harris will deliver remarks from the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, the same venue former Vice President Joe Biden is slated to use for his acceptance speech on Thursday, effectively kicking off their fall campaign.
ABC News Live will kick off primetime coverage each day at 7 p.m. ET on the network’s steaming news channel and primetime coverage will air from 10-11 p.m. ET each night of the convention on the ABC Television Network.
Please refresh for updates
7:11 p.m. Democrats quietly adopt platform that sought to sow doubts over progressive-moderate divide
Democrats formally adopted a new party platform on Tuesday night, bringing an end to the intraparty dispute between the moderate and progressive wings that persisted for a year throughout the primary. But the mainstay document, which outlines their agenda and vision for the next four years, also inscribes in print the divisions still lingering just under the surface, with major tenets of the progressive movement left out of the final text.
On the second night of the gathering, the co-chairs of the three standing committees to the convention — credentials, rules and platform — capped off official business with pre-recorded videos announcing that delegates approved their pro-forma work.
Just before the flair of Tuesday night’s roll call, or the scattered appearances by the nominee himself, the platform committee co-chairs touted their efforts to bridge the gap between the two ideological tribes of the party, without ever landing at the words “approved” or announcing the result of the vote on the platform. Convention officials did not respond to ABC News’ multiple requests for the final vote tally.
“Our committee has produced a platform that proposes solutions to the challenges that American families face in this unprecedented time,” said Denis McDonough, the former White House chief of staff under Obama and the co-chair of the 2020 platform committee, in a pre-recorded video. “I strongly believe that this platform lays out an agenda, informed by the values that will defeat Donald Trump and heal the soul of our nation. the United States of America.
Although the entire segment was a procedural step, and took place before the official start to the convention proceedings, it marked a subtle, yet not unnoticed turn in the protracted fight for Democrats.
Leading into Tuesday, some allies of former 2020 contender Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have criticized the non-binding platform for not going far enough on some of their policy priorities — mainly health care — and the vision they had for the party’s next four years. Some even dissented over the single nod to “Medicare for All” in the party’s blueprint, instead of a full embrace of the issue that was a cornerstone of Sanders’ campaign. The platform also features no mention of the Green New Deal or “defund the police.”
Without the final tally, it remains unclear just how many delegates aligned with the left ultimately opposed the 92-page document — and underscores some of the concerns progressives have about the direction of the party moving forward.
— ABC News’ Kendall Karson
7 p.m. Overview of Tuesday’s primetime program:
‘A More Perfect Union’
Welcome to Wisconsin – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers
‘A More Perfect Society’
Introduction – Kerry Washington, American actress
‘A More Perfect Union Means…Ending Gun Violence’
“America Rising: March for our Lives” – Featuring activist and Parkland survivor Emma Gonzalez
Remarks – DeAndra Dycus, a mother whose son was left paralyzed by a stray bullet at the age of 13
Remarks – Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.
A More Perfect Union…Means Tackling Climate Change
Remarks – New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham
The Biden Plan: Climate Change – A video focused on Biden’s plan to combat climate change and secure a clean-energy future, narrated by an IBEW union worker from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
A Conversation with Young Climate Activists – Young organizers talk about how they’re taking control of their future and speak to why Biden as a leader
Performance – Billie Eilish, American singer-songwriter
A More Perfect Union…Means Keeping Immigrant Families Together
“A Letter to Trump on Immigration” – “Mr. President, you tore our world apart.”
Remarks – Silvia Sanchez, an undocumented immigrant in North Carolina, with her daughters Jessica, who is a Dreamer, and Lucy
America Rising: Immigrants Rebuilding America – A video highlighting the contributions of immigrants and refugees in America
Performance – Prince Royce, Dominican-American singer-songwriter
A More Perfect Union…Means Women Lead
America Rising: From Women’s Suffrage to the Women’s March – A video highlighting this week’s the 100th anniversary since women won the right to vote
Remarks – Former Secretary of State and New York Senator Hillary Clinton, 2016 Democratic nominee for president
Remarks – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Remarks – American actress and advocate Mariska Hargitay, CEO and president of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “It’s On Us” at-large regional advisor Carly Dryden Ruth Glenn
“When You See Something Wrong” – A video highlighting Joe Biden’s leadership on the Violence Against Women Act and its legacy
‘A More Perfect Economy
Remarks – Former Secretary of Labor and Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis
“You Built America” – A More Perfect Union: A Conversation on the Economy with Biden
“America Recovering” – Senator Sherrod Brown D-Ohio, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne, D-Iowa talk to small business owners in their communities about how they’re struggling in Trump’s economy
Remarks – Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
‘More Perfect Leadership’
Remarks – Former President Barack Obama
Nominating Speech – Maya Harris, Meena Harris, and Ella Emhoff
Remarks – Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., 2020 Democratic nominee for vice president
Performance – Jennifer Hudson, American singer and actress
7 p.m. Warren’s speech previewed
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s five-minute speech will be delivered during the 10 p.m. prime-time hour, according to a source familiar with the schedule, during the “more perfect economy” section of the night. She will discuss the failed federal response to the pandemic and talk about Biden’s and Harris’s plans to build the economy back better, according to the source.
A former elementary school teacher and law professor, Warren will deliver her speech from the Springfield Early Childhood Education Center, a 150-student pre-K and kindergarten school run by the city. The center closed in March and isn’t expected to open back up until November.
Given the location of her speech, as well as her background as a single mother when her children were young, it’s likely Warren will also focus on the burdens of paying for child care in America.
7 p.m. Preview of Wednesday’s schedule
“America is not going back to where it was before Donald Trump’s mismanagement of the pandemic and subsequent economic crisis, because for too many people, that wasn’t good enough. As he leads us out of crisis, Joe Biden will help build back better,” the Democratic National Convention Committee said in a release on Wednesday’s program. “He will have a historic partner in these efforts: the first female vice president.”
Harris, California’s junior senator who at age 55 is more than 20 years younger than her 77-year-old running mate, offers the prospect of energizing younger and more progressive voters who have lamented Biden as the nominee.
Wednesday’s primetime programming also includes speeches from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Biden’s former campaign trail opponent Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and the party’s 2016 nominee for president, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Wednesday’s lineup of speakers:
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
- Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
- Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers
- New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham
- Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
- Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif, the Vice Presidential Nominee
- Former President Barack Obama
- Billie Eilish
- Jennifer Hudson
With musical performances from:
ABC News’ Kendall Karson, John Verhovek and Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.
