Key events
The president then turned to more somber matters, describing how he was inaugurated just a few weeks after the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
“Nearly four years ago, in winter, on the steps of the Capitol on a cold January day, I raised my right hand and I swore an oath to you and to God to preserve, protect and defend the constitution and to faithfully execute the office of the president United States,” Biden said.
“In front of me was the city, surrounded by the national guard. Behind me a Capitol, just two weeks before, overrun by a violent mob. But I knew then, from the bottom of my heart, that I knew now there is no place in America for political violence, none.”
Reprising a line he’s used before, which is of course a reference to Donald Trump, the president said: “You cannot say you love your country only when you win.”
As begins his remarks, it’s clear that Joe Biden has this crowd wrapped around his finger.
“Folks, let me ask you: are you ready to vote for freedom?” he asked. The response from the crowd was a big “yes!”
“Are ready to vote for democracy and for America?” The answer was “yes!” again.
“Let me ask you, are you ready to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz?” This time, the “yes!” was even louder.
Lots of people have received warm welcomes at this convention, but none quite like Joe Biden.
He hasn’t yet been able to say anything because of all the cheering.
The Democrats are very excited to see Joe Biden.
They’re holding up signs that read “We ♥ Joe”, and just cheering and cheering. The president is saying “thank you, thank you, thank you,” and just said, “I love you!”
This is likely to be one of the last major speeches Biden makes in his political career.
Joe Biden addresses Democratic national convention
Joe Biden has come onstage at the Democratic national convention.
The president jogged out, and is hugging and exchanging words with his daughter, Ashley, who introduced him.
At one point, he took out a handkerchief and dabbed his eye.
Joe Biden expected to speak at Democratic convention, as daughter gives introduction
Joe Biden is set to, in a few minutes, take the stage at the Democratic national convention, where he will reaffirm his endorsement of Kamala Harris as his successor.
His daughter, Ashley Biden, is introducing the president.
“You always tell us, but we don’t tell you enough, that you are the love of our lives and the life of our love,” the first daughter said.
Jill Biden says president dug ‘deep into his soul’ in deciding to end re-election bid
Joe Biden’s decision not to seek a second term as president was perhaps the biggest decision of his political career, and one that came only after some serious soul searching, Jill Biden said.
There are moments when I fall in love with him all over again,” the first lady said. Among them:
Weeks ago, when I saw him dig deep into his soul and decide to no longer seek re-election and endorse Kamala Harris. With faith and conviction, Joe knows that our nation’s strength doesn’t come from intimidation or cruelty, it comes from the small acts of kindness that heal deep wounds, from service to the communities that make us who we are, from love of a country that shines with promise and renewal. Kamala Harris knows that too.
Jill Biden addresses Democratic convention
First lady Jill Biden has walked onstage.
She is wearing a sparkly blue dress. The crowd greeted her with green signs that read “JILL”.
This post has been corrected to read that the dress is blue, not gray.
We are almost on to the Bidens.
Chris Coons, the senator from their home state Delaware, is now onstage. We expect Jill Biden to speak next and then the president, who will be introduced by his daughter, Ashley Biden.
George senator Warnock calls Trump ‘a plague on the American conscience’
In one of the more somber attacks made on Donald Trump so far tonight, Georgia senator Raphael Warnock called the former president “a plague on the American conscience”.
“He is a clear and present threat to the precious covenant we share with one another,” he continued.
Warnock is also a pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, and deployed that oratory skill in denouncing Trump’s recent endorsement of the Bible.
“Yes, I saw him. I saw him holding the Bible, and endorsing a Bible, as if it needed his endorsement. He should try reading it,” Warnock said. “It says, do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God. He should try reading it. It says, love your neighbor as yourself. It says, inasmuch as you’ve done it unto the least of these, you have done it also unto me.”
Andy Beshear: ‘Extremism is being soundly rejected’
Andy Beshear, Kentucky’s governor, emphasized abortion rights, women’s rights and reproductive justice in his speech, one of the final remarks before Joe Biden takes the stage.
He said:
Trump says people are absolutely thrilled that women have their basic rights eliminated. JD Vance says women should stay in violent marriages and that pregnancies resulting from rape are simply inconvenient. Their policies give rapists more rights than their victims. That’s not inconvenient. It’s just plain wrong …
Thankfully, this extremism is being soundly rejected all over our country.
Speakers from red states tell of impacts of GOP’s abortion bans
A married couple and two women from red states just appeared onstage to attack Republicans over their support for laws that restrict abortion access.
“Two years ago, my husband and I were expecting our second child. Our daughter, Lauren, couldn’t wait to be a big sister. I was getting ready for her fourth birthday party when something didn’t feel right. Two emergency rooms sent me away because of Louisiana’s abortion ban. No one would confirm that I was miscarrying. I was in pain, bleeding so much my husband feared for my life. No woman should experience what I endured,” said Louisiana resident Kaitlyn Joshua.
Kentucky’s Hadley Duvall described how growing up, she “was an all-American Girl. Varsity soccer captain, cheerleading captain, homecoming queen and survivor”, who was sexually abused and then raped by her stepfather.
“At age 12, I took my first pregnancy test, and it was positive. That was the first time I was ever told you have options. I can’t imagine not having a choice. But today, that’s the reality for many women and girls across the country because of Donald Trump’s abortion bans.”
Jamie Raskin attacks JD Vance as Trump’s ‘pet chameleon’
Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin spoke of the January 6 insurrection in his remarks and attacked Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance. He pointed out that Trump’s former vice-president, Mike Pence, has disavowed Trump due to January 6 and the threats to his life:
JD Vance, do you understand why there was a sudden job opening for running mate on the GOP ticket? They tried to kill your predecessor … They tried to kill him, because he would not follow Trump’s plan to destroy and nullify the votes of millions of Americans. Your votes, Pennsylvania. Your votes, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona … Are we going to go back to the days of election suppression and violent insurrection?”
Raskin continued: “We will defeat Donald Trump, the career criminal and incorrigible recidivist conman and his pet chameleon, JD Vance.”
Raskin also called Trump a “sore loser who does not know how to take no for an answer from American voters, American courts, or American women”.
Up now is progressive congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, who seems to be responding to criticisms that dogged Kamala Harris’s 2020 presidential run of her record as a prosecutor.
The backlash from the left to her record on criminal justice played a role in her swift defeat in the Democratic primaries, which Joe Biden ultimately won. Democrats have been nervous that the same issues could crop up again this year, and Crockett is making a point to cast Harris in a compassionate light.
“She was the first attorney general in the nation to order that her officers wear body cams, and she started the Back on Track program to reduce recidivism,” Crockett said.
“She did all these things because she genuinely cares about people. She sees each person as just that, a person, not a statistic. She’s proven that since the first day she stepped into a courtroom and said what y’all already heard Hillary say.”
Steve Kerr and Tony Goldwyn make appearances
Actor Tony Goldwyn is now hosting the programming at the Democratic convention. Goldwyn is most known for his role playing the US president on Shonda Rhimes’ Scandal, opposite Kerry Washington. Washington is also due to make an appearance at the convention.
Steve Kerr, head coach of the Golden State Warriors and coach of the USA men’s basketball team, also earned rapturous applause as he took the stage. Kerr has repeatedly made headlines for speaking his mind on politics. He notably gave an impassioned speech calling for gun restrictions after the massacre in Uvalde claimed the lives of 19 children.
In his convention remarks, Kerr said: “I can see the ‘shut up and whistle’ tweets fired off as we speak. But I also knew as soon as I was asked that it was too important as an American citizen not to speak up in an election of his magnitude.”
‘Lock him up’ chants as Hillary Clinton attacks Trump’s criminal record
Hillary Clinton drew a stark contrast between Trump and Harris, noting that Harris “locked up murderers and drug traffickers” while Trump “fell asleep at his own trial, and when he woke up, he made his own kind of history … the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions”.
The remark prompted loud chants of “lock him up,” a throwback to the “lock her up” chants at Trump’s rallies when he ran against Clinton in 2016. Clinton initially tried to move on from the chants, but then seemed to smirk a bit as the crowd went wild and continued shouting “lock him up.”
Joe Biden has arrived at the United Center, although he’s not visible in the convention hall.
He’s scheduled to deliver the marquee speech of the evening.
Clinton kept on with the glass ceiling metaphor, saying: “When a barrier falls for one of us, it falls and clears the way for all of us.”
“So for the next 78 days, we need to work harder than we ever had,” she continued. “We need to beat back the dangers that Trump and his allies pose to the rule of law and our way of life. Don’t get distracted or complacent. Talk to your friends and neighbors. Volunteer, be proud champions for the truth and for the country that we all love.”
She left the stage not long after, to loud and long applause.