CHICAGO (AP) — Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama were scheduled to speak at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, as the party draws on a coalition of its biggest stars, leaders from the far left to the center and even some Republicans to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign against Republican nominee Donald Trump.
A symbolic roll call, with delegates from each state pledging their support for the Democratic candidate, set off a party atmosphere in the massive United Center. A DJ played a mix of songs from each state – and Atlanta native Lil Jon ran out when it was Georgia’s turn to perform his hit “Turn Down for What” with DJ Snake.
WATCH LIVE: 2nd Night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention
Immediately after the roll calls concluded, Harris vowed to “forge a new path forward” at a well-attended rally in the battleground state of Wisconsin – in the same arena where Trump accepted the Republican nomination a month earlier.
She was also expected to take up Trump’s opposition to a federally guaranteed right to abortion.
“When Donald Trump was asked yesterday if he regretted ending Roe v. Wade, he said no without hesitation,” Harris says in excerpts from her remarks. “No regrets. That’s because he didn’t have to face the consequences. Women and families did. Well, we’re going to make sure he faces the consequences at the ballot box this November.”
The Obamas topped the bill Tuesday, but the diverse lineup on the whirlwind evening underscored the breadth of the political coalition Harris’ campaign is trying to assemble to defeat Trump this fall. Just like President Joe Biden in 2020, Harris is trying to win over a group of young people, voters of color, white workers, moderate suburbanites and even anti-Trump Republicans.
And although the theme of the evening was “A bold vision for America’s future,” the different factions in Harris’s developing coalition showed above all that they are united by a deep desire to prevent a second Trump presidency.
In an appearance that may have been intended to annoy Trump, his former press secretary Stephanie Grisham – now a fierce critic of her former boss – also took the stage.
Trump “has no compassion, no morals and no loyalty to the truth,” Grisham said. “I love my country more than my party. Kamala Harris tells the truth. She respects the American people. And she has my vote.”
Later in the evening, speakers included Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Senators Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, and Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who is popular with progressives.
Trump is visiting swing states during the party convention. On Tuesday, he traveled to Howell, Michigan, and called Harris, along with sheriff’s deputies, the “leader” of a “Marxist attack on law enforcement” across the country.
“Kamala Harris will bring crime, chaos, destruction and death,” Trump said in one of many generalizations about an America under Harris.
Obama, the United States’ first black president, is returning to the stage 20 years after his first appearance at a national party convention. His appearance in Boston in 2004 catapulted him into the national spotlight before his successful run for president in 2008.
In his speech Tuesday, Obama is expected to help reinforce why Harris and Walz are the right leaders for the country right now, laying out the task for Democrats over the next 10 weeks and focusing on the values at stake in this election that are at the heart of our politics, according to a person familiar with the remarks.
The former president believes it’s now all hands on deck and he’s determined to do everything in his power to help Harris win, the person said, adding that Obama will use a range of traditional and creative tactics to reach voters in the coming weeks.
The thousands of people crammed into the convention hall will also hear speeches from a number of prominent Republicans, including former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, and former Trump White House staffers Olivia Troye and Grisham, all of whom are now critics of Trump.
The Democrats’ shift in course heading into the final 76 days of the campaign follows the opening night of a party convention designed to provide a dignified exit for the incumbent president, who received a hero’s welcome at his appearance on Monday.
Cooper reported from Phoenix.
