Vice presidential nominee, Tim Walz and former President Bill Clinton will headline the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, August 21, 2024, the event’s third night.
Convention organizers dubbed the theme for Wednesday “a fight for our freedoms,” a nod to the concept around which the presidential candidate for Democrats, Kamala Harris has organized her campaign.
She frames Trump as a threat to abortion rights and personal choices, but also to democracy itself.
To shepherd that message, the night’s speaker list features a long list of big names and rising stars in the party.
These include Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was a finalist to be Harris’ running mate.
Also speaking will be several Democratic Senators; Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
Mini Timmaraju, President and CEO of the nonprofit Reproductive Freedom for All, is expected to speak on reproductive rights.
As with the other nights of the convention, there will be remarks from what organizers describe as “everyday Americans” whose freedoms hinge on the upcoming election.
According to multiple sources familiar with the program, the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday will focus on the January 6 insurrection and Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Two Republicans will give prominent speeches, including Georgia’s former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who told a news agency that his speech would be “directed at Republicans who are sick and tired of making excuses for Donald Trump.”
It will also focus on the importance of standing up for what is right.
The other Republican speaker will be Olivia Troye, who served as a national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, and who who has been a leading voice in speaking out against Trump becoming president again.
Her speech will speak about why she is supporting Harris.
She is expected to include a call for more Republicans, independents and swing voters to vote for Kamala Harris.
Following those speeches, Rep. Bennie Thompson, who served as the chairman of the January 6 Select Committee, is scheduled to speak.
A source familiar with the speeches scheduled, disclosed that the focus put on the attack on the Capitol is meant to serve both as a reminder and a warning of what happened in the chaotic final days of Trump’s presidency.
DNC Orchestrated To “Make Appearance Of Distance”
Meanwhile, Trump campaign spokesperson, Brian Hughes claimed that the DNC has been orchestrated to “make the appearance of distance and nonincumbency,” even though Harris has “been in the meetings side by side with Joe Biden.”
Hughes said during a media briefing in Chicago on Wednesday that the Democrats put “Biden out to pasture” with his convention speaking slot late Monday night, then “plugged in” former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama on a Tuesday evening session of “dynamic speakers.”
“They are trying to put the distance between Harris and Biden,” he said, of the slotting of Biden on the DNC’s opening night, with space between his speech and Walz on Wednesday night, then Harris to close out proceedings on Thursday.
“I think the Obamas did exactly what they were advertised to do: build the fence between Biden and Harris and continue to gaslight America about the notion that Harris has nothing to do with any of this,” Hughes said.
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