DNC schedule: When Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Michelle Obama and more will speak
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) gets underway on Monday, August 19 in Chicago with some political heavyweights slated to headline the four-day gathering.
While the DNC is first and foremost a presidential nominating convention, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz are already officially on the party’s ticket after a five-day round of online voting from delegates wrapped on August 5.
As many as 50,000 visitors are now expected to descend on the Steven Spielberg-coordinated convention at the United Center including 5,000 delegates from 50 states and territories, plus 15,000 members of the media and tens of thousands of guests.
A schedule for the event has been released. The main programming portion of the evening is expected to begin at 5.30pm (Central Time) and will continue until 10pm each night.
Here’s what we know so far.
Just a few weeks ago, the president was expected to take to the DNC stage to deliver his headline speech as the party’s 2024 presidential nominee.
After bowing out of the race last month, Biden will instead deliver a message of unity as the outgoing president.
“He will certainly speak at the DNC convention, and I think there’ll be a lot of excitement. I think folks are going to be, again, excited to see the President next week,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Biden will headline on Monday. Jill Biden will also speak on Monday night as will the Bidens’ daughter, Ashley Biden.
Former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is slated to speak on Monday while her husband, 42nd President Bill Clinton, is due to take the stage ahead of Walz on Wednesday.
Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are each set to deliver separate speeches on Tuesday.