Kamala Harris makes history at DNC after Barack Obama rallies voters against Trump – as it happened

Former congresswoman Gabby Giffords delivered a moving speech tonight, in which she noted her ongoing struggles since she was shot at an event with constituents in 2011.

“Today I struggle to speak, but I have not lost my voice,” Giffords said. “America needs all of us to speak out, even when you have to fight to find the words.”

A spokesperson for Giffords said she spent “countless hours” working to deliver the speech, which was her longest speech since she was shot.

Actress Regina King narrated the introduction to the speech, and she said in a statement, “It was an honor to help share Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ story of perseverance and courage as part of the Democratic National Convention. Her determination to never stay silent, against all odds, should be inspiration to us all.”

On fact-checking, here’s an astute point from CNN’s Daniel Dale:

– Maanvi Singh

Some more context on the Trump campaign’s assertion tonight that Kamala Harris is the “most liberal member of the U.S. Senate, with a voting record even further to the left than Bernie Sanders”

It’s true that non-partisan GovTrack ranked Harris as the “most liberal compared to All Senators” in part because she joined bipartisan bills very rarely. While Harris supports many relatively progressive policies, she stepped back from Sanders’ vision f Medicare fr All and maintained that private insurance companies should still play a role in the American health care system. Her record before she became senator has also alientated her from many progressives.

“Our analysis is at odds with her documented pre-Congress career of being pragmatic or moderate, and it remains to be seen which part of her career, her actions as a district attorney and Attorney General or her policy proposals in Congress – would be reflected greater in a Biden administration,” Josh Tauberer, GovTrack founder told the Sacramento Bee.

– Maanvi Singh

One fact-check from tonight:

“[Biden] and President Obama made it easier for home care workers to organize. They extended overtime pay to more than 4 million workers.” said former labor secretary Hilda Solis

It’s true that the Obama-Biden admin’s Labor Department wrote regulations to extend overtime pay to 4m workers. But the regulations were blocked before they took effect, by a federal judge in Texas.

In 2019, the Trump admin extended overtime for about 1.3m workers.

– Maanvi Singh

The Trump campaign has responded to tonight’s DNC events by casting the Biden-Harris ticket as socialist.

“The radical leftists have taken over the Democrat party and now they want to take over this country, pledging to remake America in the image of socialism,” said Hogan Gidley, the Trump 2020 national press secretary.

– Maanvi Singh

Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech has resonated with many watching. But one moment has chimed in particular with Indian American viewers, who have never been represented on a presidential ticket before.

I spy with my little eye...

– Maanvi Singh

Barack Obama was originally meant to speak after Kamala Harris tonight, according to reporters from ABC and the Washington Post. But he asked to switch, so he could “pass the torch to her,” per reports.

– Maanvi Singh

Kamala Harris noted that Americans of color are disproportionately affected by coronavirus, blaming that discrepancy on systemic racism.

“While this virus touches us all, let’s be honest, it is not an equal opportunity offender. Black, Latino and Indigenous people are suffering and dying disproportionately,” Harris said. “This is not a coincidence. It is the effect of structural racism.”

The vice presidential nominee said Americans would have to “do the work” to change the systemic racism plaguing the country.

“This virus has no eyes, and yet it knows exactly how we see each other—and how we treat each other,” Harris said. “And let’s be clear—there is no vaccine for racism. We’ve gotta do the work.”

Barack Obama’s return to big political speeches – something he hasn’t really done over the last four years – is stirring up some real nostalgia among some viewers:

Barack Obama closed his speech the same way he opened it: by arguing that Trump’s potential reelection represent a fundamental threat to American democracy.

“This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win,” Obama said. “So we have to get busy building it up – by pouring all our effort into these 76 days, and by voting like never before.”

When Kamala Harris accepts the Democratic vice presidential nomination, she will stand at a podium facing a largely-empty room, filled with only members of the press, production staff and campaign aides.

Signs bearing the names of all 57 states and territories are placed throughout the room and an image of the markers is reflected on the screen behind the podium.

The room, called Wilmington Hall, is inside the Chase Center, a waterfront convention center near Joe Biden’s home.

That’s it! That’s the room where history will be made tonight.

While Barack Obama spoke at the DNC, Donald Trump tweeted a lie. In an all caps tweets, the president baselessly accused Obama of spying on the Trump campaign.

Fact check: FBI Director Chris Wray has said there was no evidence the FBI illegally monitored Trump’s campaign during the 2016 election.

– Maanvi Singh

Barack Obama directly addressed Americans who may feel disenchanted with politics after four years of witnessing Trump in office.

“Well, here’s the point: this president and those in power – those who benefit from keeping things the way they are – they are counting on your cynicism,” Obama said.

The former president argued Republicans were actively trying to dissuade disappointed voters from casting their ballots.

“That’s how a democracy withers, until it’s no democracy at all,” Obama warned. “We can’t let that happen. Do not let them take away your power. Don’t let them take away your democracy.”

Barack Obama asked Americans to remember their own important role in protecting and strengthening the country’s democracy.

“No single American can fix this country alone. Not even a president,” Obama said. “It requires an active and informed citizenry. So I am also asking you to believe in your own ability – to embrace your own responsibility as citizens – to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure.

“Because that’s what at stake right now. Our democracy.”

Elizabeth Warren has concluded her address, but no one can stop pointing out one small detail in the background – the children’s letters that spell out a certain acronym:

Elizabeth Warren delivered her remarks from the Early Childhood Education Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, which has been closed because of coronavirus.

“Donald Trump’s ignorance and incompetence have always been a danger to our country,” Warren said. “Covid-19 was Trump’s biggest test. He failed miserably.”

She argued the extent of the crisis underscored the urgent need to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in November.

“This crisis is bad – and didn’t have to be this way,” Warren said. “We all need to be in the fight to get Joe and Kamala elected. And after November, we all need to stay in the fight to get big things done.”

You may be asking yourself: who’s actually watching this convention? One person we know for sure is Kerry Washington’s 8th grade teacher, who just tweeted her surprise at being referenced by tonight’s host:

Hillary Clinton is back at the DNC, four years after she lost to Trump despite winning the popular vote by a significant margin. And you can tell it’s still a raw topic for her, saying “Don’t forget, Joe and Kamala can win by 3 million votes and still lose -- take it from me”.

Her appearance has made many viewers rue for what could have been:

The third night of the convention has focused on the central role women play in the Democratic party, and it has included speeches from several of the most prominent women in the party, including Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi.

“As speaker, I’ve seen firsthand Donald Trump’s disrespect for facts, for working families, and for women in particular—disrespect written into his policies toward our health and our rights, not just his conduct,” Pelosi said. “But we know what he doesn’t: that when women succeed, America succeeds.”

The theme seems fitting for the third night of the convention, which will end with Kamala Harris accepting the vice presidential nomination.

The climate crisis is getting its most extensive coverage on the third night of the convention.

Two compilation videos bookended New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham speaking about the need to expand clean energy in front of a field of solar panels.

Twice there were references to Biden introducing one of the first climate bills in the 1980s. Promises of millions of good paying jobs voiced over images of public lands, sustainable farms and alternative transportation like electric scooters.

Biden’s plan promises to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and put 40% of investments toward the most vulnerable communities. But the convention’s climate credentials have been marred by the DNC’s surprising decision to remove language to oppose fossil fuel subsidies, despite Biden’s support for eliminating them. Even the youth climate activist Greta Thunberg criticized the move.

Video cut to Trump calling global warming a “hoax.” A whistleblower scientist who left the Interior department in 2017 the Trump administration has gone “all out,” to reverse climate efforts and has handed the keys to public lands over to private interests.

Young climate activists spoke about losing their communities to wildfires, questioning whether they should raise families and feeling cheated because people of color are more likely to be exposed to pollution.

The climate crisis is getting the biggest spotlight it has ever had from a US political party. And while Biden is unquestionably the better alternative for the crisis than Trump (and he got tons of credit from environmental advocates for his proposals), critics say he is still not aggressive enough with the fossil fuel industry.

As the Democrats vilified the Trump administration’s record of hardline immigration policies that separated families, Belén Sisa – a DACA recipient and activist who served as the Latino press secretary for the Bernie Sanders campaign – pointed out there is some amount of hypocrisy in play.

Immigrant families were separated during the Obama administration, though there was no administration policy back then to prosecute parents and separate them from children. The Obama/Biden administration also deported hundreds of thousands of people without criminal records, which Biden recently admitted was a “big mistake”.

“We took far too long to get it right,” Biden said in an interview with Univision in February. “I think it was a big mistake. Took too long to get it right.”

Sisa wasn’t the only one critical of the Democrats’ video on immigration. Erika Andiola, an immigrant rights activist and podcast host who is the chief advocacy officer for the organization RAICES tweeted:

– Maanvi Singh

The Trump campaign criticized the Democratic convention by lashing out against ... Billie Eilish?

The rapid response director of the Trump campaign tweeted shortly after Eilish’s performance at the convention, “Nothing screams tormented rebellious teenager bucking the establishment more than singing at the Democratic National Convention to promote Joe Biden.”

Before performing her song My Future, Eilish accused the president of “destroying our country and everything we care about.”

“Silence is not an option, and we cannot sit this one out. We all have to vote like our lives and the world depend on it because they do,” Eilish said.

Two years ago, The Guardian’s Richard Luscombe spoke to one of the families featured at DNC tonight:

All Estela Juarez wanted for her ninth birthday was for her family to be allowed to stay together.

The gift from Donald Trump’s administration, however, was fully in keeping with its zero-tolerance stance on immigration. On Friday, Juarez, an American citizen, will leave the only country she has ever known and board a plane to Mexico as US officials enforce a deportation order against her mother, Alejandra.

Her father, a former US marine, national guardsman and decorated combat veteran, will stay in Florida with Juarez’s 16-year-old sister, Pamela.

The breaking apart of American military families marks a new low point in Trump’s war on immigration, some White House critics believe, while Alejandra Juarez – who is being expelled 20 years after she entered the US illegally from Mexico as a teenager – says it is a “slap in the face”.

“When I think about the service my husband has given this country it just breaks my heart,” she said.

“They try and punish me for something that happened a long time ago, but they’re not punishing me, they’re punishing my husband, my kids. It makes you think if it’s really worth fighting for this country when it comes down to this, putting your life at risk for a country that doesn’t take your service into consideration.”

Singer Billie Eilish performed her song My Future at the convention, after several segments on the need to confront climate change.

“You don’t need me to tell you things are a mess. Donald Trump is destroying our country and everything we care about,” Eilish said before performing.

“Silence is not an option, and we cannot sit this one out. We all have to vote like our lives and the world depend on it because they do. The only way to be certain of the future is to make it ourselves.”

In its opening 15 minutes the DNC has already had some powerfully moving moments.

The first came with a segment on gun violence, which included Emma Gonzalez’s famous speech after the Parkland shooting, as well as interviews with parents and children impacted by school shootings.

Then Gabby Giffords, the former congresswoman who was shot in the head in 2011, delivered a remarkable speech. You can watch it here:

The response online has been emotional:

Earlier today, climate activist Greta Thunberg put forth a reminder:

HuffPost first reported that the DNC dropped the following provision from its official climate platform: “Democrats support eliminating tax breaks and subsidies for fossil fuels, and will fight to defend and extend tax incentives for energy efficiency and clean energy.”

The move drew outcry from environmental activists, who pointed out that booth Biden and Harris campaigned on the promise that they would end tax breaks and subsidies for the fossil fuel industry.

– Maanvi Singh

The convention has shifted focus to climate change, and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham emphasized the urgent need to defeat Trump and reverse his environmental agenda.

“We know time is running out to save our planet,” the Democratic governor said. “We have the chance this November to end two existential crises: The Trump presidency and the environmental annihilation he represents.”

The three young climate activists speaking tonight are Alexandria Villaseñor, in California, Andrew Adamski, in Wisconsin, and Katherine Lorenzo, based in Nevada.

In a pre-recorded video, Villaseñor, speaking the arboretum on the campus of the University of California, Davis says: “I was 13 when the Camp Fire, the most destructive wildfire in California’s history, broke out.”

The 15-year-old, who has been advocating for environmental justice since that deadly fire struck, delivered a dire message: “Climate change is impacting us now, and it’s robbing my generation of our future,” Villaseñor will say in a pretaped speech. “For young people my age, every aspect of our lives — from where we go to school, to what kind of careers will have, to whether or not we can have a family — depends on us taking action now.”

Today, another round of catastrophic fires have struck the Golden state — amid a broiling heatwave, as the coronavirus pandemic rages on. California governor Gavin Newsom reported that the state was battling more than 360 fires. Villaseñor, who has asthma, reported on Twitter that her family taped their ceiling vents, to blog smoke. “I’m ok. But CA is not,” she wrote.

Every night during the Democratic national convention, Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is filling inboxes with rapid responses that offer a preview of the bilious attacks that can be expected when Republicans convene next week.

Just a couple of minutes into Wednesday’s proceedings, a fundraising email in the US president’s name contained a string of insults. “Just when I thought this pathetic event couldn’t get more CORRUPT, they decide to bring in CROOKED Hillary, Crazy Nancy, Pocahontas, Phony Kamala, and Lyin’ Obama all in ONE NIGHT,” it said.

It was a list that included Trump’s favourite nickname from 2016, “Crooked” Hillary Clinton, as well as his racist tag for Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Leaning into negative partisanship, the message added: “All of these Radical Democrats HATE me and they HATE YOU. They would love nothing more than to see us FAIL, which is why it’s going to take all hands on deck to make sure that never happens.”

The email gave options to donate a gift that would be “instantly 600% matched” meaning, for example, that a donation of $5 would be matched by $35.

The convention highlighted Democrats’ calls for stricter gun laws, with several people sharing stories about how their lives have been affected by gun violence.

DeAndra Dycus recounted how her son was left paralyzed and voiceless after he was struck by a stray bullet at the age of 13.

“The child that I birthed is not able to live his dreams, and that hurts,” Dycus said.

“President Trump, he doesn’t care. He didn’t care about the victims after Parkland, Las Vegas or El Paso.”

Dycus voiced support for Joe Biden’s proposals to ban assault weapons and close gun ownership loopholes.

“Joe Biden has taken on the NRA twice and won, and he will do it again as president,” Dycus said.

Emma González, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting and advocate for gun control, narrated a video about gun violence.

“People affected by everyday gun violence have to walk by the street corner where their best friend, their brother, their mother, their nephew, where they themselves were shot, and life goes on and on as if we all haven’t just watched a loved one die and get put in the grave.”

Also featured: DeAndra Dycus, who’s son was left paralyzed and unable to speak after he was hit by a stray bullet. Dycus, who volunteers with Everytown Survivor Network and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, told Indianapolis monthly: “I will talk to Dre as if he can hold a conversation with me, because I’m waiting for the day where he responds. You know? We get some head nods, he pumps his fist in the air, which I believe is hello. He can babble a little bit if he’s in a good mood. So I talk to him because I still have faith and believe in one day he’ll say “Mom” again.”

Gabby Giffords, a former representative of Arizona who was shot in the head in an assassination attempt, urged those who want to see gun reform: “Vote, vote vote”

– Maanvi Singh

In typical fashion, Trump made major news shortly before the start of the third night of the Democratic convention.

Trump announced he would seek to have UN sanctions reimposed on Iran, setting the stage for a potential crisis between the US and its European allies.

The president also praised the baseless right-wing conspiracy theory known as QAnon.

Trump said during his briefing today, “I don’t know much about the movement; I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate. ... I heard these are people that love our country.”

Barack Obama will address the convention tonight, and his speech is expected to depict Trump’s potential reelection as a fundamental threat to American democracy.

According to excerpts released by the DNC, Obama will say, “I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care. But he never did.”

The former president will go on to say, “ I am also asking you to believe in your own ability – to embrace your own responsibility as citizens – to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure. Because that’s what at stake right now. Our democracy.”

The setting of Obama’s speech -- the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia -- will underscore his message of preserving American democracy by electing Joe Biden.

The DNC released an excerpt of the biographical video that will play before Kamala Harris formally accepts the vice presidential nomination tonight.

The video prominently features Black women praising Harris as a “fearless advocate for the voiceless” and someone who will fight for “all of America.”

The clip underscores the historic nature of Harris’ nomination, as she becomes the first Black woman and first Asian-American to join a major party’s presidential ticket.