2020
CONVENTIONS
Michelle Obama makes impassioned plea and
Republicans boost Biden: Key moments from the convention
The opening night also took on a somber tone as
Democrats — and some Republicans — warned about four more years of Trump.
By MATTHEW
CHOI, MAX COHEN and CATHERINE KIM
08/17/2020
10:16 PM EDT
Updated:
08/18/2020 12:30 AM EDT
The
Democratic National Convention has a distinctly different feel this year, with
the coronavirus pandemic pushing it to a virtual affair that lacks raucous
crowds, behind-the-scenes dealmaking and the general pizzazz of a political
celebration.
It also is
taking on a somber tone, with both Democratic leaders and Americans from around
the country warning about what they see as the dangers of Donald Trump and the
lack of leadership as Covid-19 has ravaged the United States.
Big questions
loom over the four-day event: Will Joe Biden get a convention bump in the
polls? Will the Democratic Party anoint a new rising star? How will Kamala
Harris handle her big moment? Will Trump try to stomp on the event?
Here are
key moments from the first night.
Michelle
Obama: ‘Going high is the only thing that works’
Michelle
Obama delivered an impassioned plea for a Biden presidency, slamming Trump as a
president out of his depth and urging Americans to rise above the politics of
division.
Wearing a
necklace spelling "V-O-T-E,” the former first lady urged Americans to cast
a ballot, via mail or in person, for Biden “like our lives depend on it.”
In a speech
that largely avoided mentioning the incumbent by name, Obama labeled Trump as
the wrong president for the 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,” Obama said with an air of
resignation. “He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it
is.”
“Going high
is the only thing that works,” Obama said in a reprisal of her trademark, “When
they go low, we go high” mantra of 2016.
George
Floyd's family makes a surprise appearance
The opening
night featured a moment of silence for George Floyd, the Black man killed by
Minneapolis police in May, delivered by his brother Philonise. Philonise Floyd
commended the nationwide protests against racial injustice as a fitting tribute
for his late brother and listed the names of other Black Americans killed by
police.
“For the
names we do not know, the faces we’ll never see, those who can't mourn because
their murders didn't go viral, please join me in a moment of silence to honor
George and the many other souls we lost to hate and injustice,” Philonise Floyd
said. “And when this moment ends, let's make sure we never stop saying their
names.”
D.C. Mayor
Muriel Boswer introduced Philonise and his brother Rodney while standing at a
balcony overlooking the newly minted “Black Lives Matter Plaza” — just blocks
from the White House.
‘We can't
just paint those words behind me, we can't just say those words. We have to
live those words,” Bowser said. “We have to undo the laws and systems that have
codified racism for far too long.”
Cuomo:
America’s division created Trump
New York
Gov. Andrew Cuomo slammed Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic
and his failure to unite the nation.
“Only a
strong body can fight off the virus. And America's divisions weakened it,”
Cuomo said. “Donald Trump didn't create the initial division. The division
created Trump.”
Cuomo, who
saw his national stock rise during the pandemic thanks to his frequent press
conferences and aggressive measures to combat the outbreak, said the Trump
administration’s incompetence led to its weak virus defense.
“Now we
need a leader as good as our people, a leader who appeals to the best within
us, not the worst, a leader who can unify, not divide, a leader who can bring
us up, not tear us down,” Cuomo said. “That man is Joe Biden.”
Biden says
most cops are good
During a
brief panel that focused on police violence, Biden said that “most cops are
good. The fact is that the bad ones have to be identified, prosecuted and out,
period.”
The message
is a stark contrast from the repeated calls from Trump’s camp that Biden is out
to “defund the police” and from the anti-police chants that have been ringing
at protests in cities across the country. Biden told reporters in July that he
didn’t agree with defunding police departments, but that officers needed to “meet
minimum basic standards of decency.”
Biden has
called for reform among police-community relations, and asked the panelists
about the best course to do so. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot pressed the need
for economic opportunity in struggling communities, and Houston Police Chief
Art Acevedo suggested a national ban on chokeholds.
‘His only
pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump’
Kristin
Urquiza’s father voted for and supported Trump. But she said Trump’s
coronavirus response was why her father is dead.
“His only
pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with
his life,” Urquiza said.
Urquiza,
who had gone viral for a blistering obituary condemning elected officials’
coronavirus response, blasted Trump for his management of the crisis during a
brief DNC appearance. She lay into the inequalities in care that particularly
impact communities of color. She contrasted Trump and Biden, saying Trump has
refused to heed the advice of health experts and has exacerbated the pandemic.
Urquiza
said her father regretted voting for Trump as he died and dedicated her vote
for Biden to him.
“The
coronavirus has made it clear that there are two Americas: The America that
Donald Trump lives in and the America that my father died in.”
Republicans
make pitch for Biden
John
Kasich, the former Ohio governor and one of Trump’s primary challengers back in
2016, stood at a literal crossroads as he talked about his choice to vote for
Biden, despite being a longstanding Republican.
“I'm a
lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my
responsibility to my country,’ he said. “That's why I have chosen to appear at
this convention. In normal times, something like this would probably never
happen. But these are not normal times.”
Kasich was
the first person to run for president and then speak at the opposing party’s
convention four years later since former Sen. Joe Lieberman spoke on behalf of
Republican nominee John McCain in 2008.
During his
short speech, Kasich emphasized Biden’s reputation as a moderate Democrat.
"I'm sure there are Republicans and independents who couldn't imagine
crossing over to support a Democrat. They fear Joe may turn sharp left and
leave them behind. I don't believe that because I know the measure of the man,”
he said.
Kasich was
joined with other lifelong Republicans, including former Hewlett Packard CEO
Meg Whitman, former New York Rep. Susan Molinari and former New Jersey Gov.
Christine Whitman, who has been a vocal critic of Trump and supported Kasich
during the 2016 GOP primaries.
Cortez
Masto: Trump is trying to take away the vote
Nevada Sen.
Catherine Cortez Masto called out Trump for denigrating mail-in voting,
pointing out how the president himself has requested absentee ballots twice
this year.
Cortez
Masto’s home state of Nevada became the subject of Trump’s ridicule when it
moved to expand mail-in voting amid the coronavirus pandemic. She blasted Trump
for trying to undermine those efforts in court and by cutting down on postal services.
“My home
state took the advice of scientists and medical experts and listened to the
people of Nevada to put in place a vote-by-mail system so voters have a lot of
options this fall,” she said. “But Donald Trump is trying to divide us by
undermining that right.”
Trump and
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy have faced fierce criticism for changes to the
U.S. Postal Service that they have cast as cost-saving measures but that have
led to serious delays. A group of voters filed a lawsuit Monday against DeJoy
and Trump, accusing them of conspiring to undermine the election by gutting
mail services.
Former
Democratic rivals praise Biden
The
Democratic field saw fierce confrontations this election cycle as candidates
fought for the nomination. But those conflicts were nowhere to be found at the
party’s convention.
A
consortium of Biden’s former Democratic rivals popped into the convention for a
montage praising the candidate as the future of the party. Cory Booker, Amy
Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand and a number of other former candidates spoke
about their time on the grueling campaign trail, including their interactions
with Biden. They all portrayed Biden as a candidate of strong character who
reached out to them as a friend, in spite of the stiff competition for the
nomination.
Booker
brought up a special moment from the debate stage: “What was remarkable to me
was in the commercial break he puts his arm around me and starts telling me how
good my ideas are,” he said. “And next thing you know, I feel like he's giving
me a pep talk and literally telling me how important it is, how really
important it is that I'm on that stage.”
Andrew Yang
was among the candidates to praise Biden, though he had previously expressed
disappointment at not being on the speakers list for the convention.
“Joe called
me the night I suspended and was extraordinarily gracious and comforting, and
he told me I should be proud of myself,” he said. “Said that I did myself and
my family a real service and the country a service.”
Bernie puts
aside policy differences to back Biden
Biden’s
biggest primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), painted Trump as an
authoritarian threat to the United States and urged his supporters to elect
Biden.
“The future
of our democracy is at stake. The future of our economy is at stake. The future
of our planet is at stake,” Sanders said. “My friends, the price of failure is
just too great to imagine.”
In a rare
mention of policy detail during the night, the Vermont senator noted he and
Biden diverge on how to provide every American with healthcare — the defining
issue of the primary campaign. But in a sign of unity, Sanders said that
Biden’s plan would nevertheless expand coverage, lower prescription drug
prices, and enroll more Americans into Medicare.
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