MILWAUKEE—Reimagined for a convention that will look and feel different than anything ever before, the Keynote Address for the second night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, themed “Leadership Matters,” wove together powerful and diverse voices from the next generation of party leaders into a unified pledge to step up and lead in this critical moment for the nation.
The address featured not one, but 17 of the Democratic Party’s rising stars from all across the country—ranging from state representatives, to mayors, to a Navajo Nation President, to members of Congress. These young electeds offered a diversity of different ideas and perspectives on how to move America forward, but they also spoke to the future our party is building together—a future with Joe Biden at the helm, but Stacy Abrams, former Georgia State House Minority Leader, Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate, voting rights activist (Atlanta, GA), brought home the unique challenges and urgency of voting this year.
Here are Abrams’ remarks:
This nation belongs to all of us. And in every election, we choose how we will create a more perfect union, not by taking sides but by taking stock of where we are and what we need.
This year’s choice could not be more clear. America faces a triple threat: a public health catastrophe, an economic collapse, and a reckoning with racial justice and inequality. So our choice is clear: a steady, experienced public servant who can lead us out of this crisis just like he’s done before, or a man who only knows how to deny and distract; a leader who cares about our families or a president who only cares about himself.
We know Joe Biden. America, we need Joe Biden. To make your voice heard text Vote to 30330.
In a democracy, we do not elect saviors. We cast our ballots for those who see our struggles and pledge to serve; who hear our dreams and work to make them real; who defend our way of life by protecting our right to vote. Faced with a president of cowardice, Joe Biden is a man of proven courage. He will restore our moral compass by confronting our challenges, not by hiding from them or undermining our elections to keep his job.
In a time of voter suppression at home and authoritarians abroad, Joe Biden will be a champion for free and fair elections, for a public health system that keeps us safe, for an economy that we build back better than before, and for accountability and integrity in our system of justice. We stand with Joe Biden because this isn’t just about defeating Donald Trump. We are in this to win for America. So let’s get it done.
Other participants included:
State Senator Raumesh Akbari; Tennessee (Memphis, TN)
Congressman Colin Allred; TX-32 (Washington D.C.)
Congressman Brendan Boyle; PA-2 (Pittsburgh, PA)
State Senator Yvanna Cancela; Nevada (Las Vegas, NV)
Former State Rep. Kathleen Clyde; County Commissioner, Portage County, OH (Kent, OH)
Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried; Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services (Tallahassee, FL)
Mayor Robert Garcia; (Long Beach, CA)
State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta; Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)
State Senator Marlon Kimpson; South Carolina (Charleston, SC)
Congressman Conor Lamb; PA-17 (Pittsburgh, PA)
State Rep. Mari Manoogian; Michigan (Birmingham, MI)
State Rep. Victoria Neave; Texas (Dallas, TX)
President Jonathan Nez; Navajo Nation President (Widow Rock, AZ)
State Rep. Sam Park; Georgia (Lawrenceville, GA)
State Rep. Denny Ruprecht; New Hampshire (Landaff, NH)
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 2020, a featured speaker on the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, urged his supporters to back Joe Biden and end Donald Trump’s march toward authoritarianism, saying “the price of failure is just too great to imagine.” Here is a highlighted transcript of his remarks:
Good evening. Our great nation is now living in an unprecedented moment.
We are facing the worst public health crisis in 100 years and the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. We are confronting systemic racism and the enormous threat to our planet of climate change. And, in the midst of all of this, we have a president who is not only incapable of addressing these crises but is leading us down the path of authoritarianism.
This election is the most important in the modern history of this country. In response to the unprecedented crises we face, we need an unprecedented response—a movement, like never before, of people who are prepared to stand up and fight for democracy and decency—and against greed, oligarchy, and bigotry.
And we need Joe Biden as our next president.
Let me take this opportunity to say a word to the millions who supported my campaign this year and in 2016. My friends, thank you for your trust, your support, and the love you showed Jane, me, and our family.
Together we have moved this country in a bold new direction showing that all of us—Black and white, Latino, Native American, Asian American, gay and straight, native born and immigrant—yearn for a nation based on the principles of justice, love, and compassion.
Our campaign ended several months ago, but our movement continues and is getting stronger every day. Many of the ideas we fought for, that just a few years ago were considered “radical,” are now mainstream. But, let us be clear, if Donald Trump is re-elected, all the progress we have made will be in jeopardy.
Defending Democracy
At its most basic, this election is about preserving our democracy. During this president’s term, the unthinkable has become normal. He has tried to prevent people from voting, undermined the U.S. Postal Service, deployed the military and federal agents against peaceful protesters, threatened to delay the election and suggested that he will not leave office if he loses. This is not normal, and we must never treat it like it is.
Under this administration authoritarianism has taken root in our country. I, and my family, and many of yours, know the insidious way authoritarianism destroys democracy, decency, and humanity. As long as I am here, I will work with progressives, with moderates, and, yes, with conservatives to preserve this nation from a threat that so many of our heroes fought and died to defeat.
The Pandemic
This president is not just a threat to our democracy, but by rejecting science, he has put our lives and health in jeopardy. Trump has attacked doctors and scientists trying to protect us from the pandemic, while refusing to take strong action to produce the masks, gowns, and gloves our health care workers desperately need.
Nero fiddled while Rome burned; Trump golfs. His actions fanned this pandemic resulting in over 170,000 deaths and a nation still unprepared to protect its people.
The Economic Crisis
Furthermore, Trump’s negligence has exacerbated the economic crisis we are now experiencing.
Since this pandemic began, over 30 million people have lost their jobs and many have lost their health insurance. Millions of working families are wondering how they’ll feed their kids and worried that they will be evicted from their homes.
And how has Trump responded? Instead of maintaining the $600 a week unemployment supplement that workers were receiving, and the $1,200 emergency checks that many of you received, instead of helping small businesses—Trump concocted fraudulent executive orders that do virtually nothing to address the crisis while threatening the very future of Social Security and Medicare.
Trump the Fraud
My friends, the American people have caught on that this president and his administration are, to put it bluntly, frauds.
In 2016, Trump promised he would stand with working families. He said that he would “drain the swamp,” take on Wall Street and powerful special interests. He would protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and, by the way, he would provide health care to “everybody.” Well. None of it was true.
Instead, he filled his administration with billionaires and gave trillions to the top 1 percent and large corporations. He tried to throw 32 million people off of their health insurance, eliminate protections for pre-existing conditions, and submitted budgets that proposed slashing Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security.
Joe Biden
But the truth is that, even before Trump’s negligent response to this pandemic, too many hard-working families have been caught on an economic treadmill with no hope of ever getting ahead. Together we must build a nation that is more equitable, more compassionate and more inclusive.
I know that Joe Biden will begin that fight on day one.
Let me offer you just a few examples of how Joe will move us forward.
Joe supports raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. This will give 40 million workers a pay raise and push the wage scale up for everyone else.
Joe will also make it easier for workers to join unions, create 12 weeks of paid family leave, fund universal pre-K for 3- and 4-year olds, and make child care affordable for millions of families.
Joe will rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and fight the threat of climate change by transitioning us to 100 percent clean electricity over the next fifteen years. These initiatives will create millions of good paying jobs all across the country.
As you know, we are the only industrialized nation not to guarantee health care for all people. While Joe and I disagree on the best path to get to universal coverage, he has a plan that will greatly expand health care and cut the cost of prescription drugs. Further, he will lower the eligibility age of Medicare from 65 to 60.
To help reform our broken criminal justice system Joe will end private prisons and detention centers, cash bail, and the school to prison pipeline.
And to heal the soul of our nation, Joe Biden will end the hate and division Trump has created. He will stop the demonization of immigrants, the coddling of white nationalists, the racist dog whistling, the religious bigotry, and the ugly attacks on women.
My friends, I say to you, to everyone who supported other candidates in the primary and to those who may have voted for Donald Trump in the last election: The future of our democracy is at stake. The future of our economy is at stake. The future of our planet is at stake. We must come together, defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our next president and vice president. My friends, the price of failure is just too great to imagine.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama gave a powerful, impassioned speech that struck at the heart of the momentous juncture the United States is at coming into the 2020 Election. She laid it on the line. Here is a highlighted transcript:
Good evening, everyone. It’s a hard time, and everyone’s feeling it in different ways. And I know a lot of folks are reluctant to tune into a political convention right now or to politics in general. Believe me, I get that. But I am here tonight because I love this country with all my heart, and it pains me to see so many people hurting.
I’ve met so many of you. I’ve heard your stories. And through you, I have seen this country’s promise. And thanks to so many who came before me, thanks to their toil and sweat and blood, I’ve been able to live that promise myself.
That’s the story of America. All those folks who sacrificed and overcame so much in their own times because they wanted something more, something better for their kids.
There’s a lot of beauty in that story. There’s a lot of pain in it, too, a lot of struggle and injustice and work left to do. And who we choose as our president in this election will determine whether or not we honor that struggle and chip away at that injustice and keep alive the very possibility of finishing that work.
I am one of a handful of people living today who have seen firsthand the immense weight and awesome power of the presidency. And let me once again tell you this: the job is hard. It requires clear-headed judgment, a mastery of complex and competing issues, a devotion to facts and history, a moral compass, and an ability to listen—and an abiding belief that each of the 330,000,000 lives in this country has meaning and worth.
A president’s words have the power to move markets. They can start wars or broker peace. They can summon our better angels or awaken our worst instincts. You simply cannot fake your way through this job.
As I’ve said before, being president doesn’t change who you are; it reveals who you are. Well, a presidential election can reveal who we are, too. And four years ago, too many people chose to believe that their votes didn’t matter. Maybe they were fed up. Maybe they thought the outcome wouldn’t be close. Maybe the barriers felt too steep. Whatever the reason, in the end, those choices sent someone to the Oval Office who lost the national popular vote by nearly 3,000,000 votes.
In one of the states that determined the outcome, the winning margin averaged out to just two votes per precinct—two votes. And we’ve all been living with the consequences.
When my husband left office with Joe Biden at his side, we had a record-breaking stretch of job creation. We’d secured the right to health care for 20,000,000 people. We were respected around the world, rallying our allies to confront climate change. And our leaders had worked hand-in-hand with scientists to help prevent an Ebola outbreak from becoming a global pandemic.
Four years later, the state of this nation is very different. More than 150,000 people have died, and our economy is in shambles because of a virus that this president downplayed for too long. It has left millions of people jobless. Too many have lost their health care; too many are struggling to take care of basic necessities like food and rent; too many communities have been left in the lurch to grapple with whether and how to open our schools safely. Internationally, we’ve turned our back, not just on agreements forged by my husband, but on alliances championed by presidents like Reagan and Eisenhower.
And here at home, as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and a never-ending list of innocent people of color continue to be murdered, stating the simple fact that a Black life matters is still met with derision from the nation’s highest office.
Because whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy.
Empathy: that’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. The ability to walk in someone else’s shoes; the recognition that someone else’s experience has value, too. Most of us practice this without a second thought. If we see someone suffering or struggling, we don’t stand in judgment. We reach out because, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” It is not a hard concept to grasp. It’s what we teach our children.
And like so many of you, Barack and I have tried our best to instill in our girls a strong moral foundation to carry forward the values that our parents and grandparents poured into us. But right now, kids in this country are seeing what happens when we stop requiring empathy of one another. They’re looking around wondering if we’ve been lying to them this whole time about who we are and what we truly value.
They see people shouting in grocery stores, unwilling to wear a mask to keep us all safe. They see people calling the police on folks minding their own business just because of the color of their skin. They see an entitlement that says only certain people belong here, that greed is good, and winning is everything because as long as you come out on top, it doesn’t matter what happens to everyone else. And they see what happens when that lack of empathy is ginned up into outright disdain.
They see our leaders labeling fellow citizens enemies of the state while emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists. They watch in horror as children are torn from their families and thrown into cages, and pepper spray and rubber bullets are used on peaceful protestors for a photo-op.
Sadly, this is the America that is on display for the next generation. A nation that’s underperforming not simply on matters of policy but on matters of character. And that’s not just disappointing; it’s downright infuriating, because I know the goodness and the grace that is out there in households and neighborhoods all across this nation.
And I know that regardless of our race, age, religion, or politics, when we close out the noise and the fear and truly open our hearts, we know that what’s going on in this country is just not right. This is not who we want to be.
So what do we do now? What’s our strategy? Over the past four years, a lot of people have asked me, “When others are going so low, does going high still really work?” My answer: going high is the only thing that works, because when we go low, when we use those same tactics of degrading and dehumanizing others, we just become part of the ugly noise that’s drowning out everything else. We degrade ourselves. We degrade the very causes for which we fight.
But let’s be clear: going high does not mean putting on a smile and saying nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty. Going high means taking the harder path. It means scraping and clawing our way to that mountain top. Going high means standing fierce against hatred while remembering that we are one nation under God, and if we want to survive, we’ve got to find a way to live together and work together across our differences.
And going high means unlocking the shackles of lies and mistrust with the only thing that can truly set us free: the cold hard truth.
So let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.
Now, I understand that my message won’t be heard by some people. We live in a nation that is deeply divided, and I am a Black woman speaking at the Democratic Convention. But enough of you know me by now. You know that I tell you exactly what I’m feeling. You know I hate politics. But you also know that I care about this nation. You know how much I care about all of our children.
So if you take one thing from my words tonight, it is this: if you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can; and they will if we don’t make a change in this election. If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it.
I know Joe. He is a profoundly decent man, guided by faith. He was a terrific vice president. He knows what it takes to rescue an economy, beat back a pandemic, and lead our country. And he listens. He will tell the truth and trust science. He will make smart plans and manage a good team. And he will govern as someone who’s lived a life that the rest of us can recognize.
When he was a kid, Joe’s father lost his job. When he was a young senator, Joe lost his wife and his baby daughter. And when he was vice president, he lost his beloved son. So Joe knows the anguish of sitting at a table with an empty chair, which is why he gives his time so freely to grieving parents. Joe knows what it’s like to struggle, which is why he gives his personal phone number to kids overcoming a stutter of their own.
His life is a testament to getting back up, and he is going to channel that same grit and passion to pick us all up, to help us heal and guide us forward.
Now, Joe is not perfect. And he’d be the first to tell you that. But there is no perfect candidate, no perfect president. And his ability to learn and grow—we find in that the kind of humility and maturity that so many of us yearn for right now. Because Joe Biden has served this nation his entire life without ever losing sight of who he is; but more than that, he has never lost sight of who we are, all of us.
Joe Biden wants all of our kids to go to a good school, see a doctor when they’re sick, live on a healthy planet. And he’s got plans to make all of that happen. Joe Biden wants all of our kids, no matter what they look like, to be able to walk out the door without worrying about being harassed or arrested or killed. He wants all of our kids to be able to go to a movie or a math class without being afraid of getting shot. He wants all our kids to grow up with leaders who won’t just serve themselves and their wealthy peers but will provide a safety net for people facing hard times.
And if we want a chance to pursue any of these goals, any of these most basic requirements for a functioning society, we have to vote for Joe Biden in numbers that cannot be ignored. Because right now, folks who know they cannot win fair and square at the ballot box are doing everything they can to stop us from voting. They’re closing down polling places in minority neighborhoods. They’re purging voter rolls. They’re sending people out to intimidate voters, and they’re lying about the security of our ballots. These tactics are not new.
But this is not the time to withhold our votes in protest or play games with candidates who have no chance of winning. We have got to vote like we did in 2008 and 2012. We’ve got to show up with the same level of passion and hope for Joe Biden. We’ve got to vote early, in person if we can. We’ve got to request our mail-in ballots right now, tonight, and send them back immediately and follow-up to make sure they’re received. And then, make sure our friends and families do the same.
We have got to grab our comfortable shoes, put on our masks, pack a brown bag dinner and maybe breakfast too, because we’ve got to be willing to stand in line all night if we have to.
Look, we have already sacrificed so much this year. So many of you are already going that extra mile. Even when you’re exhausted, you’re mustering up unimaginable courage to put on those scrubs and give our loved ones a fighting chance. Even when you’re anxious, you’re delivering those packages, stocking those shelves, and doing all that essential work so that all of us can keep moving forward.
Even when it all feels so overwhelming, working parents are somehow piecing it all together without child care. Teachers are getting creative so that our kids can still learn and grow. Our young people are desperately fighting to pursue their dreams.
And when the horrors of systemic racism shook our country and our consciences, millions of Americans of every age, every background rose up to march for each other, crying out for justice and progress.
This is who we still are: compassionate, resilient, decent people whose fortunes are bound up with one another. And it is well past time for our leaders to once again reflect our truth.
So, it is up to us to add our voices and our votes to the course of history, echoing heroes like John Lewis who said, “When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something.” That is the truest form of empathy: not just feeling, but doing; not just for ourselves or our kids, but for everyone, for all our kids.
And if we want to keep the possibility of progress alive in our time, if we want to be able to look our children in the eye after this election, we have got to reassert our place in American history. And we have got to do everything we can to elect my friend, Joe Biden, as the next president of the United States.
MILWAUKEE—The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) today announced some of the everyday Americans who will cast their official nominating votes for president of the United States during tonight’s “Roll Call Across America.” The roll call vote will take place under tonight’s theme, “Leadership Matters,” and spotlight those who are stepping up in this moment of crisis to play their part in the democratic process.
“A moment like this demands leadership—not just from those we’ve elected, but from all of us,” said Joe Solmonese, CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee. “All across the nation Americans are answering that call to action, and tonight we hope viewers are inspired to see their neighbors overcoming Donald Trump’s chaos and joining Joe Biden in his battle for the soul of our nation.”
Over the course of 30 minutes, the reimagined roll call process will take convention viewers to all 57 states and territories. Democrats will tell a story about the strength of the American people in overcoming the chaos and crisis of Donald Trump and fighting for a better America. Viewers will hear from delegates, parents, teachers, small business owners, essential workers, activists and elected leaders in the Democratic Party as they officially cast votes to nominate Joe Biden to become the next president. And viewers will see these votes cast not on a convention floor, but at businesses, inside living rooms, and in front of iconic landmarks in cities and towns nationwide.
Participants include:
ALABAMA Rep. Terri Sewell will invoke the memory of Rep. John Lewis to advocate for restoring the Voting Rights Act.
ALASKA Veteran, fisherman, and party activist Chuck Degnan will discuss the impact of climate change on tribal waters.
AMERICAN SAMOA Party leaders Aliitama Sotoa and Patti Matila will celebrate American Samoa’s legacy of military service—and Joe Biden’s work to improve the territory’s infrastructure.
ARIZONA Middle school social studies teacher Marisol Garcia will discuss remote learning from the perspective of teachers, parents, and activists.
ARKANSAS Chef Gilbert Alaquinez will describe his work delivering meals prepared at the Clinton Presidential Center to local families via food trucks.
CALIFORNIA Sec. Hilda Solis and Rep. Barbara Lee will highlight the importance of Joe Biden’s clean energy plan for communities of color.
COLORADO Immigrant and party activist Howard Chou and his family will discuss the challenges facing working parents during the pandemic.
CONNECTICUT Veteran firefighter Peter Carozza will explain why he and his fellow first responders trust in Joe Biden’s courage and commitment to working Americans.
DELAWARE Gov. John Carney and Sen. Tom Carper will share a local perspective on Delaware’s favorite son.
DEMOCRATS ABROAD Organizer Julia Bryan will offer a call to action for Americans living abroad to get involved in this election.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Mayor Muriel Bowser will issue a call for DC statehood.
FLORIDA Gun safety activist Fred Guttenberg will describe Joe Biden’s compassion in the wake of his daughter’s murder in Parkland and commitment to defeating the NRA.
GEORGIA State Sen. Nikema Williams, candidate for John Lewis’s seat in Congress, will urge viewers to overcome voter suppression.
GUAM Party chair Sarah Thomas-Nededog will celebrate the 70th anniversary of Guam citizens becoming American citizens.
HAWAII Civil rights activist Dr. Amy Agbayani will offer a special personal message to American immigrants.
IDAHO Mayor Lauren McLean will share her city’s bold response to climate change.
ILLINOIS Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun will discuss the Biden plan for racial justice in housing.
INDIANA Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg will describe his city’s revitalization and the Biden plan to do the same nationwide.
IOWA Secretary Tom Vilsack will take a moment to share best wishes for Iowans suffering after last week’s storm.
KANSAS Fourth-generation family farmer Mark Pringle will share his concern about the future of rural America and his confidence in the Biden plan for revitalizing rural communities.
KENTUCKY Education advocate Colmon Elridge will share a personal story about Joe Biden’s commitment to improving American health care.
LOUISIANA Rep. Cedric Richmond and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrellwill visit a thriving independent art studio to highlight the importance of small businesses to cities.
MAINE State Rep. Craig Hickman, the first openly gay African American to serve in the Maine House of Representatives, will take us inside his American dream.
MARYLAND City Council President Brandon Scott and college student Bianca Shah will describe the Biden plan for racial justice in the economy.
MASSACHUSETTS State Rep. Claire Cronin will highlight the Biden plan to help our economy recover from the pandemic.
MICHIGAN Sen. Gary Peters and UAW auto worker Ray Curry will discuss how Joe Biden saved the Michigan auto industry and his plan to create a million new auto jobs.
MINNESOTA Sen. Amy Klobuchar will discuss Joe Biden’s ability to bring people together before throwing it across the Mississippi River to St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter.
MISSISSIPPI College president Dr. Carmen Walters will discuss the history of the HBCU she leads and the Biden plan to invest in these important institutions.
MISSOURI Bricklayer Reuben Gill will praise the contributions of his fellow working men and women and the Biden plan to invest in infrastructure.
MONTANA Recent college graduate Rachel Prevost will describe her senior year of remote learning and highlights the importance of rural broadband.
NEBRASKA Meatpacking plant employee Geraldine Waller will share a personal perspective on the dangers facing essential workers during the pandemic.
NEVADA Backed by an array of working Nevadans, Rep. Dina Titus will describe the Biden plan for putting workers first in our economy.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Gov. John Lynch will offer his personal endorsement of Joe Biden’s leadership skills.
NEW JERSEY Gov. Phil Murphy will mark the impact of the pandemic on his state and explains why Joe Biden is the right leader to help us recover.
NEW MEXICO Tribal member and state Rep. Derrick Lente will celebrate his state’s diversity and commitment to preserving natural and cultural resources.
NEW YORK Registered nurse and a member of 1199SEIU Scheena Iyande Tannis will offer a raw personal perspective on the dangers facing health care workers.
NORTH CAROLINA Longtime Democratic activist Cozzie Watkins will offer a call to action for Black women.
*NORTH DAKOTA Tribal citizen and advocate Cesar Alvarez will discuss his unique path to college and Joe Biden’s plan to open up educational opportunity.
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS Party chair Nola Kileleman Hix will describe her organizing efforts as the young leader of the party in the NMI.
OHIO Rep. Tim Ryan and IBEW organizer Josh Abernathy will describe Donald Trump’s broken promises to Ohio workers and the Biden plan to invest in America.
OKLAHOMA Party chair Alicia Andrews will reflect on the lessons of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
OREGON Activist Dr. Rosa Colquitt and registered nurse Travis Nelson will discuss racial disparities in health care.
PENNSYLVANIA Sen. Bob Casey, a fellow Scranton native, will talk about how Joe Biden’s childhood in Scranton formed his commitment to working families.
PUERTO RICO Sen. Carmelo Rios-Santiago, will highlight Donald Trump’s abandonment of Americans in Puerto Rico.
RHODE ISLAND State Rep. Joseph McNamara will discuss the impact of the pandemic on his state’s restaurants and fisherman and shows off the mouth-watering flavors of Rhode Island seafood.
SOUTH CAROLINA Senate candidate Jaime Harrison will speak from the alma mater of Rep. Jim Clyburn and his late wife Emily.
SOUTH DAKOTA Tribal activist Kellen Returns From Scout will issue a plea for forward-looking leadership.
TENNESSEE On the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, college student Keely Sage will visit the headquarters of the suffragists to discuss her own first vote for President and the role of women in this election.
TEXAS Rep. Veronica Escobar will reflect on the lessons of the August 2019 massacre in El Paso.
UTAH Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson will debunk misinformation about mail-in voting.
VERMONT Gubernatorial candidate and Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, joined by Jane and Bernie Sanders and other Vermont activists, will speak out for justice.
VIRGIN ISLANDS Chair Cecil Benjamin will lead a colorful tribute to Joe Biden’s leadership.
VIRGINIA Activist Khizr Khan will reflect on the racial violence that claimed a life in his beloved home city of Charlottesville.
WASHINGTON State Rep. My-Linh Thai, a former refugee, will share her commitment to the public schools that gave her a chance to contribute to her new home.
WEST VIRGINIA Veteran educator and union organizer Fred Albert will discuss how teachers and parents can work together to create change.
WISCONSIN Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes will share his personal story and a call to action for a brighter future.
WYOMING Activists Judy and Dennis Shepherd will discuss Joe Biden’s leadership to stop hate crimes against LGBTQ Americans in the wake of their son Matthew’s murder.
Dr. Jill Biden, here introducing Vice President Joe Biden at the 2016 DNC,, highlights Night Two of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, themed “Leadership Matters,” when Biden will formally be nominated after a roll call unlike any before (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
MILWAUKEE—The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) today previewed the official program for night two of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, happening Tuesday, August 18 from 9:00-11:00 PM Eastern.
The theme of Tuesday’s program is “Leadership Matters.” A moment like now demands real leadership. A leader who has the experience and character to meet the moment. A leader who will unite us, tell us the truth, take responsibility, listen to experts and be an example for the nation. Strong people and strong countries rise up during crises, don’t shy away from what is tough, and lead with competence. With Joe Biden as our president, we will restore honesty and integrity to our government, and stake out a renewed leadership role in the world. And we will create more justice, more fairness and more equality for all.
Tonight’s focus is on the leaders and the experts, the veterans, the activists, and all those who seek to unite and not divide, and who step up—and don’t back down—from a fight over what’s right.
Highlights of tonight’s program:
LEADERSHIP MATTERS
Call to Order The Honorable Tom Barrett Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Credentials Committee Report James Roosevelt Jr. Co-Chair of the Credentials Committee Lorraine Miller Co-Chair of the Credentials Committee
Rules Committee Report The Honorable Barney Frank Co-Chair of the Credentials Committee Maria Cardona Co-Chair of the Credentials Committee
Platform Committee Report Julie Chavez Rodriguez Co-Chair of the Credentials Committee Dennis McDonough Co-Chair of the Credentials Committee
THE LEADERS WE ARE
Keynote Address: “We Step Up to Lead” Young and diverse elected leaders will offer different ideas and different perspectives during the keynote address, but everyone will speak to the future we’re building together—and why we need Joe Biden’s leadership right now.
Remarks Sally Yates Former Acting Attorney General of the United States
Remarks The Honorable Charles Schumer Minority Leader of the United States Senate We Lead from the Oval Office
Remarks Caroline Kennedy Former U.S. Ambassador, daughter of President John F. Kennedy Jack Schlossberg Grandson of President John F. Kennedy
Remarks The Honorable Jimmy Carter 39th President of the United States Rosalynn Carter Former First Lady of the United States
Remarks The Honorable Bill Clinton 42nd President of the United States
THE LEADER WE NEED
Introduction Tom Perez Chairman of the Democratic National Committee
Nominating Speeches for The Honorable Bernie Sanders Bob King Former President of the United Auto Workers The Honorable Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, New York
Nominating Speeches for The Honorable Joe Biden The Honorable Chris Coons United States Senator, Delaware The Honorable Lisa Blunt Rochester Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Delaware
Roll Call Across America
THE LEADERS WE ARE
We Take On the Toughest Challenges
The Biden Plan: Healthcare We share Joe Biden’s plan to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, protect those with preexisting conditions, and expand access to every American – because for Joe Biden and his family, this is personal.
A More Perfect Union: A Conversation on Healthcare Joe Biden listens to, and engages with, everyday Americans on what the Affordable Care Act means to them, to their health, and to their loved ones – and they all stress why we can’t stop working to expand access and bring costs down, especially during this pandemic.
Remarks Ady Barkan Progressive activist
THE LEADER JOE BIDEN IS
Remarks The Honorable John Kerry Former United States Secretary of State Former United States Senator, Massachusetts 2004 Democratic Nominee for President
A True Commander-In-Chief
The Biden Plan: National Security National Security leaders who have served Democratic and Republican Presidents make the case for Joe Biden’s steady, experienced leadership.
Family, Faith, and Country First
“Teacher” The story of Dr. Biden’s life, her career, and her relationship with Joe Biden, family, and staff.
Remarks Dr. Jill Biden Former Second Lady of the United States
Performance John Legend American singer-songwriter
How to Watch the 2020 Democratic National Convention
Viewers will have more than a dozen options for watching the 2020 Democratic National Convention, ensuring that this year’s convention will reach viewers where they are, however they prefer to watch, all across the nation.
With an unprecedented number of ways to tune in, this year’s convention will engage voters in new, innovative ways and unite the country around our shared values. The convention will take place over four nights from August 17-20, 2020. Convention programming will air live from 9:00-11:00 PM Eastern each night.
In addition, the DNC is organizing watch parties all over the country, hosted with prominent leaders, as well as drive-in watch parties, like drive in movie theater where you watch on big screens – in Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Delaware.
The convention will air from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time every day, Monday through Thursday. There are a variety of ways to watch:
C-SPAN, CNN, MSNBC and PBS will cover the full two hours each night. ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News will carry the convention from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. each night.
The New York Times will stream the full convention every day, accompanied by chat-based live analysis from reporters and real-time highlights from the speeches.
Streams will be available on Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV by searching “Democratic National Convention” or “2020 DNC,” and on Amazon Prime Video by searching “DNC.”
The convention will air on AT&T U-verse (channels 212 and 1212) and AT&T DirectTV (channel 201). It will also air on Comcast Xfinity Flex and Comcast X1 (say “DNC” into your voice remote).
You can watch on a PlayStation 4 or PSVR through the Littlstar app.
If you have an Alexa device, you can say “Alexa, play the Democratic National Convention.”
The Democratic National Convention is the formal event during which delegates of the Democratic Party choose the party’s nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 election. At the convention, the Democratic Party also adopts the official Democratic Party platform as well as the rules and procedures governing party activities, including the nomination process for presidential candidates in the next election cycle. www.DemConvention.com
Former first Lady Michelle Obama headlines a stellar list of speakers that also includes Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo, with a diverse line-up intended to convey the theme, “We the People,” for the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The first-in-history virtual convention offers multiple ways to view and participate, including watch-parties led by prominent leaders and drive-in watch parties.
MILWAUKEE—The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) today previewed the official program for the opening night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, happening Monday, August 17 from 9:00-11:00 PM Eastern.
“The theme of Monday’s program is “We the People.” America is facing a series of monumental challenges—as the COVID-19 pandemic continues its rampage, tens of millions of people are out of work, and our nation confronts a legacy of racial injustice that has marginalized too many. But as we have learned throughout our history, when we stand united, we can overcome anything.
“Tonight the nation will hear from the many Americans who are rising up to take on these three crises, and who will join Joe Biden in building back better and moving this country forward. With Joe Biden as president, ‘we the people’ will mean all the people.”
Highlights from tonight’s program, with additional special guests slated to join throughout the evening:
WE THE PEOPLE
Introduction Eva Longoria American actress
“We the People” Gavel In
Everyday Americans will read the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, before Convention Chair and The Honorable Bennie Thompson officially gavels in the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Call to Order The Honorable Bennie Thompson Permanent Chair of the 2020 Democratic National Convention Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mississippi
Pledge of Allegiance
National Anthem A multicultural choir performing virtually with singers representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Cheyenne Nation and five territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Invocation Reverend Gabriel Salguero President of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition Co-lead pastor of The Lamb’s Church in New York, New York
Remarks The Honorable Gwen Moore Sergeant-at-Arms of the 2020 Democratic National Convention Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Wisconsin
WE THE PEOPLE DEMANDING RACIAL JUSTICE
Remarks The Honorable Muriel Bowser Mayor of Washington, D.C.
Performance Leon Bridges American singer
“The Path Forward”: A Conversation with Vice President Biden on Racial Justice Vice President Biden engages with, and listens to, social justice activist Jamira Burley, Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, NAACP President Derrick Johnson, and author Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, about how America can move forward towards equality, fairness, and justice for all.
Remarks The Honorable James Clyburn House Democratic Whip Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, South Carolina
WE THE PEOPLE HELPING EACH OTHER THROUGH COVID-19
Remarks The Honorable Andrew Cuomo Governor of the State of New York
Remarks Kristin Urquiza A woman whose father lost his life to COVID-19.
A Conversation with Healthcare Workers on the Front Lines A conversation with a doctor, paramedic, and two nurses on the front lines of this pandemic about what they’ve endured, and what’s at stake in this election for America’s essential medical workers.
Introduction of Performer The Honorable Sara Gideon Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives
Performance Maggie Rogers American singer-songwriter
Remarks The Honorable Gretchen Whitmer Governor of the State of Michigan
WE THE PEOPLE PUTTING COUNTRY OVER PARTY
Remarks The Honorable Christine Whitman Former Governor of New Jersey
Meg Whitman Former CEO of Hewlett Packard
The Honorable Susan Molinari Former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, New York
Remarks The Honorable John Kasich Former Governor of the State of Ohio
Remarks The Honorable Doug Jones United States Senator, Alabama
Remarks The Honorable Catherine Cortez Masto United States Senator, Nevada
Remarks The Honorable Amy Klobuchar United States Senator, Minnesota
“United We Stand” Former 2020 Democratic candidates for president of the United States will come together once again to talk about why they ran, what they’re fighting for, and why they believe Joe Biden will bring the nation together, move the nation out of crisis and chaos, and move us forward —featuring Vice Presidential Nominee and Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Cory Booker, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Governor Jay Inslee, Senator Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, Former U.S. Representative Beto O’Rourke, Tom Steyer, and Andrew Yang.
WE THE PEOPLE RECOVERING
Remarks The Honorable Cedric Richmond Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Louisiana
Remarks The Honorable Bernie Sanders United States Senator, Vermont
WE THE PEOPLE RISE
Keynote Remarks Michelle Obama Former First Lady of the United States
Performance Billy Porter and Steven Stills American singer-songwriters
Benediction Reverend Dr. Jerry Young 18th President of the National Baptist Convention, USA
How to Watch the 2020 Democratic National Convention
Viewers will have more than a dozen options for watching the 2020 Democratic National Convention, ensuring that this year’s convention will reach viewers where they are, however they prefer to watch, all across the nation.
With an unprecedented number of ways to tune in, this year’s convention will engage voters in new, innovative ways and unite the country around our shared values. The convention will take place over four nights from August 17-20, 2020. Convention programming will air live from 9:00-11:00 PM Eastern each night.
In addition, the DNC is organizing watch parties all over the country, hosted with prominent leaders, as well as drive-in watch parties, like drive in movie theater where you watch on big screens – in Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Delaware.
The convention will air from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time every day, Monday through Thursday. There are a variety of ways to watch:
C-SPAN, CNN, MSNBC and PBS will cover the full two hours each night. ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News will carry the convention from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. each night.
The New York Times will stream the full convention every day, accompanied by chat-based live analysis from reporters and real-time highlights from the speeches.
Streams will be available on Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV by searching “Democratic National Convention” or “2020 DNC,” and on Amazon Prime Video by searching “DNC.”
The convention will air on AT&T U-verse (channels 212 and 1212) and AT&T DirectTV (channel 201). It will also air on Comcast Xfinity Flex and Comcast X1 (say “DNC” into your voice remote).
You can watch on a PlayStation 4 or PSVR through the Littlstar app.
If you have an Alexa device, you can say “Alexa, play the Democratic National Convention.”
TO: Interested Parties FROM: Kate Bedingfield, Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director RE: President Trump’s Coronavirus Lies: 152 and Counting DATE: August 14, 2020
As Vice President Biden has said many times, the American people can face any challenge if you simply tell them the truth, but from the very beginning of this crisis President Trump has refused to be honest with the American people about the scope of the challenge that we face with COVID-19, or the steps needed to stop it, save lives, and get our country back to work.
Simply put, Trump has regularly lied to the American people on matters of life-and-death. This report details over 150 instances of Trump’s misleading claims or outright mistruths. There are undoubtedly more. As our country crosses the grim milestone of five million coronavirus cases, it shows the clear cost to the American people of his dishonesty.
From the outset, President Trump has lied by downplaying the threat posed by COVID-19, claiming that “one day, like a miracle, it will disappear” — repeating Chinese Communist Party propaganda about the virus instead of listening to the warnings being raised by our government’s leading public health experts and the intelligence community. Many months later, Trump has repeatedly returned to this same lie even as cases spike and America faces the worst outbreak among any advanced economy .
Trump has lied by attacking the medical experts who should be guiding our response — launching personal attacks at Dr. Fauci, twisting the advice being provided by the top public health experts in America, and constantly undermining guidance from them on the steps we must take to get COVID-19 under control. Unfortunately for Trump, poll after poll shows that the American people overwhelmingly trust the experts like Dr. Fauci over him.
Similarly, President Trump has misled the American people by hawking unproven, and possibly dangerous, treatments for the coronavirus even as he spent months dismissing and even attacking common sense steps to slow the spread of the virus, including wearing a mask and practicing social distancing.
We can, and we must, do better than Donald Trump’s lies if we want to stop COVID-19. At every step of this crisis, Trump’s failed leadership has produced tragic results, with more than 160,000 Americans dead, over five million infected, and our economy reeling from the biggest contraction in recorded history.
To beat this virus, we need a President who will level with the American people and tell them the truth about the challenges we face, and how to overcome them. Vice President Biden knows that if we’re going to beat this virus, we need to be honest with the American people — we need a President who leads by example, not someone who shirks responsibility and lies constantly in an attempt to cover up for his own failures.
That’s why Vice President Biden has laid out a bold plan to combat this virus — starting by listening to the experts, telling the truth about what it will take to overcome this scourge, and then mobilizing our country to get it done. That’s how we’ve always come together as one America, united in common purpose, to face the greatest challenges that have faced our nation, and that’s exactly how we’re going to beat COVID-19.
TRUMP’S COVID-19 LIES:
A. Minimizing the Threat of the Virus:
Trump claimed that the threat of coronavirus to the U.S. was a Democrat political hoax.
Trump repeatedly undersold the threat of the virus and claimed his administration was “ahead” of it.
Trump claimed the media was exaggerating the threat of coronavirus.
Trump repeatedly claimed that the virus would simply “go away.”
Trump claimed that warmer weather weakens the virus, and that it would go away by April, based on information given to him by President Xi.
In mid-April, Trump claimed that some states did not have “any problem” with coronavirus.
In July, Trump claimed that “large portions” of the U.S. are “corona-free.”
Trump repeatedly implied the virus was no more serious than the seasonal flu.
Trump baselessly asserted that the coronavirus mortality rate calculated by the WHO is incorrect.
Trump claimed that the virus is 99% harmless.
In mid-June, Trump claimed that the virus was “dying out” and “leaving.”
Trump has downplayed recent surges as “flames” that could easily be “put out.”
Trump has repeatedly understated the crisis in Florida.
Trump implies that the virus does not harm young people and that children are “virtually immune.”
Trump said that coronavirus could be referred to as simply “a flu” or “a germ,” and that no one really knows what to call it.
Trump claimed that one of the COVID-19 death projections did not account for mitigation measures, like social distancing.
Trump tried to differentiate the Spanish influenza from the current pandemic by claiming that the mortality rate among those infected was 50%.
Trump claimed that health experts, including Dr. Fauci, said coronavirus was not a problem in February.
Trump claimed that “nobody knew anything” about the virus in January.
Trump claimed, in early March, that the virus had only hit three weeks ago.
In April, Trump claimed, “you may not even have corona coming back” in a second wave.
B. Trump’s Response to Virus: General:
Trump claimed that no one could have predicted that the United States would face a pandemic because of coronavirus.
Trump lied about and exaggerated the efficacy of his administration’s response, claiming that they had done a “great” job at containing and combating the virus.
Trump repeatedly claimed that the virus was “under control.”
Trump claims that the United States’ response to the virus has been the most aggressive in the world.
Trump baselessly claims that he has been “right” about coronavirus more than anyone else, including public health experts.
Trump misleadingly cited a Gallup poll to exaggerate the approval ratings of his administration’s response to Coronavirus.
Trump claimed that the public’s approval rating of his response to the virus was higher than the approval of the Obama administration’s handling of H1N1.
China Travel Restrictions:
On at least 40 occasions, Trump claimed he had imposed an outright “ban” on travel from China and “closed the borders” against the advice of experts, which he has claimed saved “thousands,” “hundreds of thousands,” and even “millions” of lives.
Trump claimed he was the first to restrict travel to and from China. He was particularly adamant that Italy and other European countries had not limited travel to and from China, which led to their high number of coronavirus cases.
Trump claimed that everyone, including public health experts, disagreed with his decision to implement restrictions from China.
Europe Travel Restrictions:
Trump claimed at least 20 times to have banned travel from Europe, and claimed that all U.S. citizens travelling from Europe would be subject to screening, testing, and quarantine if necessary.
Trump claimed to have barred travel to Italy prior to his March 11 ban on travel to all of Europe.
Trump claims that cases are also surging in European countries because of their extended lock-down orders.
U.S. Borders:
Trump claimed the U.S. had some troops on the U.S.-Canadian Border.
Trump claims that without more stringent patrol of the U.S.-Mexico border, the border would have become the “global epicenter of the viral transmission.”
Dr. Fauci:
Trump attempts to undermine Dr. Fauci’s credibility with false claims about Fauci’s past recommendations.
Trump claims he has a very good relationship with Dr. Fauci and has distanced himself from his administration’s attempts to discredit Dr. Fauci.
Other Claims:
Trump claimed states did not need federal assistance to acquire medical supplies and personal protective equipment and that they were fully stocked.
Trump claimed in April that he hadn’t left the White House in “months.”
Trump repeatedly claimed to have fully invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA), which enables the federal government to order private industry to produce specific items like testing and PPE when he had not actually done so.
C. Testing Capacities: Nature of Tests:
Trump claimed multiple times that testing was readily available for anyone who wanted one.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that U.S. testing is “perfect” and the “best in the world.”
Trump later admitted that there were some issues with the initial coronavirus test, but claimed it took “about a week” to solve.
Trump claimed that testing was “overrated.” and that “testing isn’t necessary.”
Trump said past administrations were to blame for his administration’s delays in developing and deploying coronavirus tests.
Number of Tests:
Trump has continuously claimed that the United States is “number one” in testing, or has the “best testing.”
In March, Trump claimed that the U.S. had done more testing than any other nation, including South Korea.
By April, Trump escalated his previous lie and claimed that the U.S. had completed more coronavirus tests than the rest of the world (or all other “major” countries) combined. He has made some version of this claim at least 13 times.
Trump said the U.S. would not “need anywhere near” 5 million tests.
Trump said in late April that we would reach 5 million tests conducted per day “very soon.”
Trump claimed that the federal government was providing more testing capacities than Governors needed.
Trump baselessly claimed the report by the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, which detailed complaints from hospitals regarding wait times and shortages of testing supplies, was “wrong” and politically motivated.
Trump exaggerated the number of tests that the U.S. had completed.
Number of Cases:
Throughout the spring, Trump claimed the U.S. had reached its peak in cases and was “heading down.”
Trump claims that we only have the highest number of coronavirus cases globally because we were doing the most testing in the world.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that coronavirus cases only surged in June because of increased testing.
When forced to admit that the increase in cases is not exclusively a result of more testing, Trump claims that most of the cases are harmless.
Testing and the Private Sector:
Trump claimed that Google had engineered a website that helped Americans decide whether they need testing, and where they could obtain it.
Trump claimed testing was available and provided to passengers on trains and planes.
In May, Trump said workers returning to their jobs “should have no problem” obtaining a coronavirus test.
D. Coronavirus Deaths and Mortality Rates:
On April 10, Trump said that the final number of U.S. deaths could be as few as 55,000.
In mid-April, Trump predicted that the total number of casualties would be around 50,000 – 60,000.
In late April, Trump predicted that the total number of casualties would be around 60,000 – 70,000.
On May 1, Trump estimated that the total number of coronavirus deaths would be under 100,000.
Trump misleadingly compared the coronavirus deaths with the projected number of deaths, absent any mitigation.
Trump claimed that the U.S. coronavirus mortality rate is one of the best in the world.
Trump claims that the death rate is a better indicator than new cases.
Trump claimed in mid-July the death rate from coronavirus was “down tenfold.”
E. Personal Protective Equipment: General:
Trump claimed that hospitals were artificially inflating their need for equipment.
Trump claimed that no one could have predicted that the country would ever need tens of thousands of ventilators.
States and Personal Protective Equipment:
Trump claimed that, by mid-April, there was no demand for ventilators.
Trump seemed to endorse Jared Kushner’s claim that the Strategic National Stockpile was the federal government’s, and was not intended to be shared with the states.
Trump claimed that NY state had rejected recommendations to buy 16,000 ventilators at a cheap price in 2015, and NY state had established lotteries and death panels in response to the virus.
Trump claimed that NY State asked for more ventilators without realizing that eight thousand had already been delivered to the state.
Trump claimed to have never said that governors were asking for equipment they did not need.
Trump claims he did not threaten to limit help to governors who “did not treat him right.”
Trump claimed that the federal government was providing states with all the materials they need.
Trump claimed that Governor Cuomo sent sick patients back to nursing homes when they could have been treated on the USNS Comfort.
Private Sector Involvement:
Trump claimed that automotive companies were producing ventilators, per his orders, by mid-March.
F. Treatments and Vaccines: Vaccine:
Trump repeatedly claimed a vaccine would be available “soon.”
Trump said the virus would go away without a vaccine.
Hydroxychloroquine:
Trump repeatedly said that the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine was proven effective in treating coronavirus.
Trump repeatedly said that the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine is safe to use to treat COVID-19.
Trump denounced a report conducted at Veterans Administration hospitals, which found no evidence that hydroxychloroquine helped people, and in fact may increase likelihood of death. He also claimed it was the only study that undercut his claims regarding the drug.
Other Treatment-Related Lies:
Trump says he is “all for masks.”
Trump rejects the idea that widespread mask usage would successfully prevent the spread of the virus and claims that masks can actually cause problems and are a “double-edged sword.”
Trump later undersells the value of wearing masks, only tepidly endorsing their use.
Trump claims that governors “go by the CDC guidelines” regarding masks.
Trump said that he was being sarcastic when he asked medical experts to look into viability of injecting disinfectants to treat virus, that he had only asked medical experts to look into whether or not the sun could treat the virus, and that he was only talking about using disinfectants on hands, not to ingest.
Trump retweeted a conspiracy video that claimed that neither masks nor shutdowns were necessary to combat coronavirus, and that hydroxychloroquine is the cure for coronavirus, and later endorsed the video and said the video makers were “respected” doctors.
Trump claims that he had not been asking Dr. Birx questions about the impact of sunlight and heat, but was instead speaking to the laboratory expert about sunlight.
G. Other China-Related Lies:
Trump claimed that, although the virus spread out of China, China contained it to Wuhan.
Trump exaggerated Tim Cook’s statement that Apple production plants in China were “back to normal” at the end of February.
H. World Health Organization:
Trump claimed he never threatened to freeze WHO funding, just minutes after having made the threat.
Trump claimed that the WHO ignored the spread of the virus in Wuhan.
I. Blaming Democrats, the Obama Administration, and Vice President Biden: Obama Administration:
Trump claimed that the Obama administration had implemented a rule on testing that limited the FDA’s capacity to test.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that he inherited a flawed COVID-19 test from the Obama administration.
Trump claimed that the Obama administration left no medical supplies or ventilators in the national stockpile.
Trump claims that the Obama administration stopped testing for H1N1 because they did not want to increase the number of cases.
Vice President Biden:
Trump claimed that the Obama Administration’s response – and Vice President Biden’s response in particular – to H1N1 was a huge disaster.
Trump claimed that Vice President Biden had apologized to him for calling him Xenophobic. Trump claimed this apology took place on a Friday evening, when it wouldn’t generate any coverage.
Trump claimed that a Biden aide had made up a prediction that Trump would try to delay November’s election.
Trump baselessly claims that listening to Vice President Biden would have resulted in hundreds of thousands more deaths.
Democrats:
Trump claimed criticism regarding testing was a partisan attack, and felt it was a “personal attack.”
Trump repeatedly claims that the Democrat policy of open borders caused coronavirus.
Trump later revised this claim, baselessly stating that if the Democrats had their way and opened borders, border states would be the global epicenter of the virus.
Trump later claimed that Democrats did not take the virus seriously in February and March.
Trump has made various false claims about Pelosi’s visit to San Francisco’s Chinatown, and then claimed that she deleted her tweet about her visit to Chinatown.
Trump claims that Democrats are the ones opposing “payments” to Americans and that he supported larger payments than Democrats.
J. Pandemic and the Media:
Trump claims that the media has been unfair to him and misrepresented how his administration has handled the crisis.
Trump claims that the media has unfairly focused on the number of coronavirus cases, rather than the mortality rate.
Trump claimed “unknown sources” cited by the New York Times and Post were made up.
Trump claimed the media did not call to ask for a comment before publishing stories regarding Alex Azar.
Trump denounced the media for reporting that he and Jay Inslee had clashed on the phone or that Jay Isnlee had told him the federal government needed to step up (“We need Tom Brady”). Trump claimed that the comment was meant positively.
Trump claimed a New York Times correspondent, Michael Grynbaum, had written a positive article about him.
K. The Lockdown: General:
Trump repeatedly exaggerated how quickly the country could “open up.”
Trump claims that the country has reopened “safely” and will remain “open.”
Trump claimed that the states that did not have stay-at-home orders were “not in jeopardy.”
Trump claimed that the President has the power to decide whether or not to open up states.
Trump claimed that continued economic shutdown would result in greater number of deaths, by suicide, than Coronavirus would cause.
Trump claimed that Dr. Birx had not discouraged Americans from having dinner or cocktail parties, and was simply referring to certain states.
Trump claimed that anti-lockdown protests socially distanced, and that protestors were six feet apart.
Trump claims that Democrats only want to reimpose shutdowns to hurt Trump’s election chances.
Trump claims that states with Democratic governors are prohibiting him from holding rallies for political reasons.
Trump claimed people were getting arrested for listening to church services in their cars.
Schools:
Trump has claimed that people are opposing school reopening for political reasons.
Trump claims that “everyone” is in favor of opening schools.
Trump claims that we can safely reopen all schools.
Trump claims that keeping schools shut would be more dangerous for families.
Trump claimed that Vice President Biden does not want to open schools.
Trump attempts to discredit the CDC’s recommendations for school re-openings.
L. The Economy: General:
Trump baselessly muses that “maybe” the coronavirus improved U.S. jobs numbers.
Trump baselessly claims that the economy will be even stronger than it was prior to the virus.
Trump claims that, prior to the virus, he was paying off the national debt.
In early June, Trump claimed the economy was “rocking and rolling.”
In early July, Trump claimed the economy is “roaring back to life” like “nobody has even seen before.”
Trump claimed that he would exempt farmworkers from restrictions on immigration, because in previous instances when the border was closed, all farmers went out of business.
Trump understates coronavirus’ catastrophic impact on small businesses.
Coronavirus Relief Act:
Trump said that the Paycheck Protection Program had been administered seamlessly.
Trump claimed that he was the first President to provide paid sick leave for American workers.
Trump denied that Wells Fargo had stopped taking small business loan applications.
Trump says that Americans can safely vote in person this November.
Trump claims that absentee ballots are safer than mail-in ballots.
N. Other:
Trump floats the idea of postponing the election to protect against fraudulent election results, saying it could take “years” to determine results of election.
Trump claimed that Captain Crozier had sent the letter regarding the outbreak on the USS Roosevelt to 28 people.
Trump claimed that the outbreak on the USS Roosevelt resulted in 540 people testing positive.
Trump blamed Captain Crozier for stopping in Vietnam during the pandemic, implying that this was the reason for the outbreak on ship.
Trump exaggerates the number of people on the Grand Princess cruise, saying there were close to 5,000 people aboard.
Trump blames Black Lives Matter protests for the increase in cases.
Trump blames Mexico for the spike in coronavirus cases.
On Saturday, August 8, Trump signed four Executive Orders intended to substitute for Congressional Republicans compromising with Democrats on a relief package against the health and economic ravages of the coronavirus pandemic. In a vitriolic speech, delivered to a mini-rally assembled from among his Bedminister golf course members, he attacked the Democrats’ plan, threatened a stock market crash should Joe Biden become president, and promised to end the payroll tax (which funds Social Security) should he be elected.
Indeed, Trump delivered this campaign promise: to reduce income taxes and capital gains taxes (in order to goose the stock market), in effect robbing the US Treasury which is already over $25 trillion in debt with trillions added because of the 2017 GOP tax cuts and the trillions spent on COVID relief, much of it going to the wealthiest and best connected. Instead of providing aid to states and localities which have been devastated by depleted revenues and run-up in costs to address COVID-19, he put more of the burden on states to come up with his faux employment benefits (it requires 25% to be paid by states). Instead of funding election protection and the post office, he accused Democrats of stealing the election.
“The massive taxpayer bailout of badly run blue states we talked about — that’s one of the things they’re looking to do. Measures designed to increase voter fraud,” he told his adoring audience.
“You know what it’s about? Fraud. That’s what they want: fraud. They want to try and steal this election because, frankly, it’s the only way they can win the election.
“The bill also requires all states to do universal mail-in balloting — which nobody is — nobody is prepared for — regardless of whether or not they have the infrastructure. They want to steal an election. That’s all this is all about: They want to steal the election.”
Trump couldn’t resist attacking proposals for a Green New Deal: “And they want to do the Green New Deal, which will decimate our country and decimate — it’s ridiculous, too. It’s childish. I actually say the Green New Deal is childish. It’s for children. It’s not for adults.”
And when asked what happens if the states can’t pony up the 25% to continue the $400 (not $600) unemployment benefits (the 75% that the federal government would spend would be coming from the states’ share of the CARES Act funding), he said, “Well, if they don’t, they don’t…So I don’t think their people will be too happy.”
As for the reduction in unemployment benefits, Trump said, “this gives them a great incentive to go back to work.”
Questioned about the constitutionality of going around Congress, which has the sole “power of the purse,” Trump said, “This will go very [fast]– if — if we get sued. Maybe we won’t get sued. If we get sued, it’s somebody that doesn’t want people to get money. Okay? And that’s not going to be a very popular thing. “
Pressed whether a President should go around Congress “ and decide how money is collected and spent?” Trump retorted, “You ever hear the word ‘obstruction’? “yes,” the reporter replied. “You were investigated for that.”
Trump then replied, “They’ve obstructed. Congress has obstructed. The Democrats have obstructed people from getting desperately needed money.”
“But this is in the Constitution, Mr. President,” the reporter insisted.Asked why he keeps taking credit for Veterans Choice, which was passed in 2014 by the Obama Administration, Trump abruptly ended the press conference.
In reaction to Trump’s executive orders, Vice President Joe Biden, presumptive Democratic nominee for President, issued this statement: –Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Unable to deliver for the American people in a time of crisis, Donald Trump offered a series of half-baked measures today. He is putting Social Security at grave risk at a time when seniors are suffering the overwhelming impact of a pandemic he has failed to get under control. And make no mistake: Donald Trump said today that if he is re-elected, he will defund Social Security.
For months, Trump has golfed rather than negotiated, and sown division rather than pull people together to get a package passed. Now, instead of staying in Washington and working with Republicans and Democrats to reach a bipartisan deal, President Trump is at his golf club in New Jersey signing a series of dubious executive orders.
This is no art of the deal. This is not presidential leadership. These orders are not real solutions. They are just another cynical ploy designed to deflect responsibility. Some measures do far more harm than good.
One order is Donald Trump’s first shot in a new, reckless war on Social Security. Trump announced a payroll tax plan with no protections or guarantees — like the ones the Obama-Biden administration enforced a decade ago — that the Social Security Trust Fund will be made whole. And, Trump specifically stated today that if re-elected, he plans to undermine the entire financial footing of Social Security. He is laying out his roadmap to cutting Social Security. Our seniors and millions of Americans with disabilities are under enough stress without Trump putting their hard-earned Social Security benefits in doubt.
Another order brings cuts, chaos, and confusion to our system of unemployment insurance. Trump is unilaterally reducing the amount laid-off workers could receive. And he purports to provide these benefits until the end of the year, but only identifies enough funding to make it a handful of weeks. Even with that limited funding, Trump is basically playing a cruel game of robbing Peter to pay Paul: He is taking billions of dollars of federal natural disaster funding away so it won’t be available to states like Florida. And, he is forcing states to choose between imposing benefit cuts for unemployed workers or slashing funds for public schools, health workers, and first responders.
A third order, on evictions, is woefully inadequate to deal with the emerging housing crisis. He is leaving our nation’s renters with ever-mounting debt and leaving our small family landlords badly squeezed. Without a comprehensive plan to help our American families make rent, they will leave this crisis months behind on their payments while many landlords teeter on the verge of bankruptcy.
And a fourth order is a band-aid approach to student debt that leaves out 7 million borrowers who obtained their federal loans from private lenders or their college rather than the Department. The economic strain on these Americans is deep and unrelenting.
There is a solution to all of this pain and suffering. A real leader would go back to Washington, call together the leaders of the House and Senate, and negotiate a deal that delivers real relief to Americans who are struggling in this pandemic. We need a president who understands their struggle and believes in their courage to overcome.
The 2020 Democratic National Convention which is expected to nominate Joe Biden as the party’s candidate for president will have a very different look from 2012 or any other national convention because of the public health crisis posed by the coronavirus (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com.
MILWAUKEE—The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) announced the themes that will guide each of the four nights of convention programming, which will take place August 17-20, from 9 to 11 pm,. The themes are intended to show how Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, intends to bring the country together around, to lead the nation of Trump’s chaos and crises, and rebuild a better America for all. In look and feel, the 2020 Democratic National Convention, which will be conducted virtually instead of as an in-person gathering, will be different. More innovative, more creative—and engage with more Americans than ever before. “Uniting America” will serve as the primary theme for the four nights of programming.
Having made the decision for a virtual convention instead of in-person gathering, a custom virtual video control room has been designed to take in hundreds of feeds from around the country, including the potential of interacting with Americans from around the country. As in past conventions, a feed of convention proceedings will be available at no cost for media and accessible in multiple formats, including via satellite and embeddable livestream.
“The Democrats’ convention stage is bigger this year than it ever was—located in cities and towns across America,” the DNC stated. “This year, we’ll see fewer people behind podiums—and more people in living rooms, on factory floors, at small businesses, and in schools and town squares. No one will need a floor pass to experience the biggest moments up close, and we’ll hear from the everyday Americans that represent our nation’s strength, decency and humanity.”
“This convention is for all Americans, no matter who you voted for in the past. We will unite America around the critical task of electing Joe Biden as president in November so we can begin to build a more just, more democratic, kinder and stronger country—a better America,” said Stephanie Cutter, 2020 Democratic National Convention Program Executive. “The message we aim to deliver is simple: Joe Biden is the steady, compassionate and experienced leader America needs right now to bring us together and steer our nation out of Trump’s crises and constant chaos and build a better future for all.”
The convention will take place over four nights from August 17-20, 2020 and will air live from 9:00-11:00 PM Eastern each night. Over the course of those four nights, programming centered around the following thematics will aim to unite Americans from coast-to-coast around Joe Biden’s vision to build a better future for all.
Monday, August 17: We the People—This convention is about Americans rising up to take our country back—and move forward as a nation together. As we have learned throughout our history, when we stand united, we can overcome anything, including the monumental challenges we face today. With Joe Biden as president, ‘we the people’ will mean all the people.
Tuesday, August 18: Leadership Matters—A moment like now demands real leadership. A leader who has the experience and character to meet the moment. A leader who will unite us, tell us the truth, take responsibility, listen to experts and be an example for the nation. Strong people and strong countries rise up during crises, don’t shy away from what is tough, and lead with competence. With Joe Biden as our president, we will restore honesty and integrity to our government, and stake out a renewed leadership role in the world. And we will create more justice, more fairness and more equality for all.
Wednesday, August 19: A More Perfect Union—We are not going back to where we were before Donald Trump’s economy and mishandling of the pandemic—for too many Americans, that wasn’t good enough. As president, Joe Biden will lead us to a better America we know is possible. As he leads us out of Trump’s chaos and crises, he will help America build back better.
Thursday, August 20: America’s Promise—The measure of a president is the same as the measure of a person: What principles guide them? How do they handle adversity? Being president doesn’t change who you are, it reveals who you are. Joe Biden is a good man who believes in the promise of America, and as president, he will deliver on that promise for all.
Public Health Concerns Nix In-Person Gathering in Milwaukee
After ongoing consultation with public health officials and experts—who underscored the worsening coronavirus pandemic—the Democratic National Convention Committee decided that speakers for the 2020 Democratic National Convention would not travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in order to prevent risking the health of the host community as well as the convention’s production teams, security officials, community partners, media and others necessary to orchestrate the event.
In accordance with this guidance, Vice President Joe Biden will no longer travel to Milwaukee and will instead address the nation and accept the Democratic nomination from his home state of Delaware. Details about the location of the speech will be released at a later time. Other speakers who had been planning to come to Milwaukee will not travel to the city.
“From the very beginning of this pandemic, we put the health and safety of the American people first. We followed the science, listened to doctors and public health experts, and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives. That’s the kind of steady and responsible leadership America deserves. And that’s the leadership Joe Biden will bring to the White House,” said DNC Chair Tom Perez.
Democrats have been working for months to build flexible plans that modernize and transform the convention experience for delegates and viewers across the country. From the start of the pandemic, contingencies were put in place for a successful convention that would ensure public health was protected. Today’s announcement represents a small adjustment to the overall planning, as the majority of speeches and segments were already taking place in locations across the country. Democrats will offer four nights of programming, which will include a mix of both pre-recorded segments and live broadcasts from locations across the country.
“2020 will always be remembered as a year of once-in-a-lifetime challenges and changes—but it will also be remembered as a time when Americans were their most compassionate and resilient selves. While we wish we could move forward with welcoming the world to beautiful Milwaukee in two weeks, we recognize protecting the health of our host community and everyone involved with this convention must be paramount,” said Joe Solmonese, CEO of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
“This convention will look different than any previous convention in history. It will reach more people than ever before, and truly be a convention across America for all Americans, regardless of which party you belong to or who you’ve voted for in previous elections. This “unconventional” convention will launch Joe Biden to victory in November,” Solmonese added.
In order to ensure that the convention will reach viewers wherever they are, convention officials have been working with partners to house convention content on over a dozen platforms, in addition to traditional broadcasts. The official live stream for the 2020 Democratic Convention will be hosted on DemConvention.com, where viewers can also find the full convention schedule, and a digital tool kit to get involved.
How to Watch the 2020 Democratic National Convention
Viewers will have more than a dozen options for watching the 2020 Democratic National Convention, ensuring that this year’s convention will reach viewers where they are, however they prefer to watch, all across the nation.
With an unprecedented number of ways to tune in, this year’s convention will engage voters in new, innovative ways and unite the country around our shared values. The convention will take place over four nights from August 17-20, 2020. Convention programming will air live from 9:00-11:00 PM Eastern each night.
“While our convention will certainly look different than previous years, what hasn’t changed is that this is an opportunity to engage and unite more Americans than ever before and to launch Joe Biden to victory this fall,” said Solmonese. “With so many different ways to watch and get involved this year, Democrats are ready to make the case for Joe Biden’s vision for a better, safer future for the country.”
In addition to the DemConvention.com livestream and traditional broadcasts, the DNCC is working with partners to house convention content on a range of platforms, ensuring that no matter what services and devices audiences are using, the full program is available live and on-demand.
Comcast Xfinity X1 (say “DNC” into your Xfinity Voice Remote)
Comcast Xfinity Flex (say “DNC” into your Xfinity Voice Remote)
Smart Speaker
Listen or watch on Alexa-enabled Devices (Just say “Alexa, play the Democratic National Convention”)
The Democratic National Convention is the formal event during which delegates of the Democratic Party choose the party’s nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 election. At the convention, the Democratic Party also adopts the official Democratic Party platform as well as the rules and procedures governing party activities, which includes the nomination process for presidential candidates in the next election cycle. www.demconvention.com
For Trump and the Republicans, the likely rise in homelessness because of mass evictions and foreclosures as a result of the economic collapse due to the coronavirus is another tool of voter suppression. Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic candidate for president, is calling for an Emergency Housing Package (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic candidate for president, calls out Trump and the Republicans for sitting by as 20 million Americans who have lost their jobs as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic, now face eviction from their apartments, foreclosure from their homes (Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin made a fortune foreclosing on people in the 2008 Great Recession). The impacts of this collapse of family finances will follow for the rest of their lives, effectively canceling out the American Dream, if families can survive at all. I would submit what seems “merely”callous and indifferent to the suffering of so many is intentional. It is yet another tool in the Trump and Republicans’ campaign to suppress votes by likely Democratic voters – the more misery the better, but also, these voters can be challenged at the polls as no longer living where they were registered and unable to receive a vote-by-mail.
In contrast, Trump has elevated housing – fair housing – into another bullhorn call-out to his base. Just as he has done to sabotage Obamacare in the midst of a pandemic, he has rolled back an Obama-era rule – Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing — that required local governments provide fair housing in order to receive federal housing funds. Trump tweet-gloated, not even bothering to code his meaning about who he was appealing to and why: “I am happy to inform all the people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream that you will no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built inyour neighborhood…Your housing prices will go up based on the market, and crime will go down. I have rescinded the Obama-Biden AFFH Rule. Enjoy!”
This is a statement from Vice President Biden on what a functioning federal response to such widespread homelessness should be: pass an emergency housing relief package –Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Today is the first day of another month where rent and mortgage payments are due for millions of Americans who are already living on the edge. It comes a day after President Trump and Leader McConnell sent the Senate home for the weekend and allowed enhanced unemployment insurance, which millions of families have been using to pay their rent and bills, to lapse. And, the day after, we found out the last three months have been the worst period for our economy in recorded history. Hundreds of thousands of small businesses have shut their doors, with minority entrepreneurs especially hard hit. More than 30 million Americans are struggling to get by as their unemployment benefits are about to get sharply cut. Over the next two months, with no federal eviction moratorium in place, as many as 20 million families could find themselves out in the street without a safe place to live.
Because Donald Trump is abdicating his responsibility to lead us out of the pandemic crisis and the economic crisis, we now face a potential housing crisis across the country.
To prevent a catastrophic rise in evictions and homelessness, President Trump must work with Congress to act swiftly and enact a broad emergency housing support program for renters, just as we would in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Such a step would get help out quickly and at scale so that millions of people aren’t evicted or forced to choose between rent and food. Congress must also provide emergency unemployment benefits, greater access to food and nutrition programs, and full subsidies to allow families to keep their health insurance, so that the loss of one family member’s job doesn’t push the family into foreclosure and on the streets. This legislation must also include the fiscal relief necessary so state and local governments can keep on payroll the first responders, public school educators, and other public servants who ensure our cities and towns are clean, safe, and running.
Combined, these steps could put the nation in a much stronger position to handle the strain the virus is putting on millions of Americans and our entire economy. They are among many others we must take.
