Democratic National Convention 2020: Day 4

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, and his wife Jill Biden, watch fireworks with Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, and her husband Doug Emhoff, during the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention, Thursday, August 20 at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware.

A display of fireworks closed out this week’s unconventional Democratic National Convention.

Following Joe Biden’s acceptance speech, he and his wife Jill joined a crowd outside the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, to watch the fireworks. Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff joined them on the stage.

The center’s parking lot looked like a summertime drive-in movie theater, with people arriving since earlier in the day waving Biden signs and American flags from convertibles or sunroofs to watch the final night of the convention on a large screen outside.

Watch the moment:

Members of the District of Columbia Democratic Party attend a drive-in watch party in the parking lot of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium to watch Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden accept the Democratic nomination for president on the final night of the Democratic National Convention on August 20 in Washington.

Joe Biden closed his speech tonight at the Democratic National Convention with a call to action to Americans this November to get “united in our love for each other.”

The former vice president wants history to “say that the end of this chapter of American darkness begin here tonight as love and hope and light join in the battle for the soul of the nation.”

“And this is a battle we will win, and we’ll do it together,” Biden said.

Watch:

Former Vice President Joe Biden.

Joe Biden said “one of the most important conversations” he had during the campaign was with George Floyd’s 6-year-old daughter Gianna, the day before Floyd’s funeral. 

“When I leaned down to speak to her, she looked in my eyes and said, and I quote, ‘Daddy changed the world. Daddy changed the world.’ Her words burrowed deep into my heart,” he said. 

“Maybe George Floyd’s murder was a breaking point. Maybe John Lewis’ passing the inspiration, but however it’s come to be — however it’s happened — America’s ready, in John’s words, to lay down, quote, ‘the heavy burden of hate’ at last, and then the hard work of rooting out our systemic racism,” Biden added.

Watch:

In accepting the Democratic nomination for president, Joe Biden tore into the current officeholder, asking Americans to judge President Trump on the facts. Among them: “More than 50 million people have filed for unemployment this year,” Biden said.

Facts first: Biden actually underplayed how many Americans have filed for first-time unemployment claims.

More than 57 million people have filed initial jobless claims since March 21, when the coronavirus pandemic prompted state officials to require people to stay at home and non-essential businesses to close, leading a record number of Americans to apply for benefits.Another 15 million people have applied under the temporary pandemic unemployment assistance program, which Congress created as part of its $2 trillion coronavirus relief package in late March.

It broadens the nation’s unemployment program to those who don’t typically qualify, including freelancers, gig workers, the self-employed and independent contractors. It also is open to certain people who lost their jobs because of the coronavirus, including those who have to stay at home because their children’s schools have closed.

Former Vice President Joe Biden.

Joe Biden lambasted Donald Trump’s racist comments Thursday night, calling the President’s comments about white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville “a wake-up call for us as a country, and for me, a call to action.”

He recalled a conversation with the 6-year-old daughter of George Floyd the day before Floyd’s funeral.

“She looks in my eyes and she said, I quote, ‘Daddy changed the world. Daddy changed the world.’ Her words burrowed deep into my heart,” he said.

“Maybe George Floyd’s murder was a breaking point. Maybe John Lewis’s passing an inspiration,” Biden said. “America is ready, in John’s words, to lay down the heavy burden of hate at last and begin the hard work of rooting out our systemic racism.”

“In this dark moment, I believe we’re poised to make great progress at the end — that we can find the light once more,” Biden said.

Former Vice President Joe Biden.

Joe Biden vowed to remain strong on Russia, saying that “America will not turn a blind eye to Russian bounties on the heads of American soldiers” under his leadership.

“Nor will I put up in foreign interference in our most sacred democratic exercise, voting,” he said. “And I’ll always stand for our values of human rights and dignity. I’ll work with a common purpose for a more secure, peaceful and prosperous world.”

The Trump administration has consistently downplayed reports that there were Russian bounties for attacks on American troops. Russia has denied the allegation.

Former Vice President Joe Biden.

Joe Biden remembered his late son Beau Biden on Thursday in a section of his acceptance speech that he devoted to his family.

After singling out his children Hunter and Ashley, along with his grandchildren and brothers and sisters, Biden pivoted to his late son who died of cancer in 2015.

The memory of Beau Biden has loomed over much of this convention, with multiple speakers invoking the Biden family’s loss.

Biden, who served in the United States Army National Guard, used the memory to position himself as he prepared to be the leader of the US military, saying he understands the “profound responsibility of serving as commander in chief.”

Watch:

Former Vice President Joe Biden.

Joe Biden struggled to win over younger voters during the Democratic primary. So on Thursday night, he dedicated a section of his speech to addressing – and applauding – their activism.

“They are speaking to the inequity, and injustice, that has grown up in America,” Biden said. “Economic injustice. Racial injustice. Environmental injustice. I hear their voices. If you listen, you can hear them too.”

Earlier in his speech, Biden talked up his climate plan and his promise to use the transition toward a green economy as a tool for creating new and better jobs.

Here, he spoke to a slate of issues that have galvanized youth activism.

“Where there is existential threats posed by climate change, the daily fear of being gunned down and school, or the inability to get started in your first job,” Biden said, “it will be the work of the next president to restore the promise of America to everyone.”

Former Vice President Joe Biden.

Joe Biden praised his running mate Kamala Harris during his nomination acceptance speech, describing her as a “powerful voice in this nation.”

“It will be the work of the next president to restore the promise of America to everyone. And I am not going to have to do it alone. I will have a great vice president at my side,” Biden said.

Biden touted Harris’ diverse family heritage and her perseverance to “overcome every obstacle she has ever faced.” Last night, Harris became the first Black and South Asian woman nominated to a major political party’s ticket.

“No one has been tougher on big banks and the gun lobby. No one has been tougher on calling out the current administration for its extremism, its failure to follow the law, it’s failure to simply tell the truth. Kamala and I both draw from our families. That is where we get our strength. For Kamala, it is Doug, and their families. For me, it is Jill, and ours,” Biden said.

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Joe Biden said his economic plan is built on lessons he learned from his father, who told him that the importance of a job is about “being able to look your kid in the eye and say it’s going to be OK, and mean it.”

Biden touted his “build back better” plan, which would seek to inject stimulus spending into the economy to create union jobs in clean energy and manufacturing and would seek to create jobs in what his campaign has called the “caregiving economy.”

“And yes, we’re going to do more than praise our essential workers. We’re finally going to pay them,” he said.

Watch:

Former Vice President Joe Biden.

After running through the staggering toll to date of the coronavirus, Joe Biden said here’s no need for guessing about what comes next if Trump is reelected in November.

The “assault on the Affordable Care Act will continue,” Biden added, “until it’s destroyed.”

Setting the stakes moments earlier, Biden said that “character,” “compassion,” “decency,” “sincerity,” and – echoing Obama from Wednesday night – “democracy” were all on the ballot this year.

“And the choice could not be more clear,” he said. “No rhetoric is needed.”

Joe Biden laid out his plan to combat coronavirus on Thursday, telling voters that President Donald Trump has “failed in his most basic duty” to protect Americans from the virus.

Ever since the first cases of coronavirus broke out in the United States earlier this year, the 2020 campaign has been dominated by the pandemic, forcing both Biden and Trump to pivot their campaigns to the issue.

Biden dedicated a significant portion of his acceptance speech on Thursday to how he, as president, would combat the virus.

Biden, in a stark rebuke of Trump, said he would deploy rapid tests for the virus, make personal protective equipment in the United States “so we will never again be at the mercy of China or other foreign countries,” make sure that schools have the resources they need to reopen and “put politics aside, take the muzzle off our experts.”

Biden also pledged to impose a “national mandate to wear a mask.”

“In short, we will do what we should have done from the very beginning,” Biden said. “Our current president has failed in his most basic duty. … That is unforgivable.”

Watch:

Former Vice President Joe Biden.

Joe Biden took a moment during his nomination acceptance speech to thank former President Barack Obama saying, “You were a great president.”

Biden, who served two terms alongside Obama, said children could look up to Obama, adding that they can’t do that with President Trump.

“A president our children could and did look up to. No one’s going to say that about the current occupant of the White House,” Biden said.

Joe Biden criticized President Trump and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying “no miracle is coming.”

Biden’s comments were in direct response to a refrain from Trump that the virus is “going to disappear,” as he said on Feb. 27.

“One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear,” Trump told attendees at an African American History Month reception in the White House Cabinet Room.

Former Vice President Joe Biden.

Joe Biden said that if President Donald Trump is re-elected, “he’ll be what he’s been for the last four years,” and asked Americans if that’s what they want for their children.

Trump, Biden said, “takes no responsibility” and “fans the flames of hate and division.”

In a second term, he said, “He’ll wake up every day believing the job is all about him, never about you.”

Former Vice President Joe Biden.

Joe Biden said on Thursday that the nation he hopes to lead is in the midst of “a perfect storm” of four pressing crises, portraying America as a nation in turmoil but with ability to overcome those issues.

“Now history has delivered us to one o the most difficult moments America has ever faced,” Biden said in his acceptance speech. “Four historic crises — all at the same time. A perfect storm.”

Those four issues, Biden said, were the coronavirus pandemic, the growing economic crisis, the call for racial justice and the threats of climate change. “The question for us is simple,” Biden said. “Are we ready? I believe we are.”

Biden said that no generation knows the issues it will be forced to confront, but he sought to take a positive outlook on the problems facing the country.

Former Vice President Joe Biden.

When Joe Biden accepted the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night, he said in Delaware that “united we can and will overcome this season of darkness in America.”

“The current president’s cloaked American darkness for much too long,” Biden said in an opening that targeted President Donald Trump.

Watch:

Former Vice President Joe Biden.

Joe Biden has officially accepted the presidential nomination of the Democratic party.

“It is with great honor and humility that I accept this nomination for President of the United States of America,” he said.

“I am a proud Democrat,” Biden said, adding that he promises to be a president for all Americans. 

Biden was introduced by a video that went through the former vice president’s life, and career, and highlighted his role as a father, husband and political leader.

Biden’s children, Ashley Biden and Hunter Biden, spoke before their father accepted the nomination.

“He’s been a great father, and we think he will be a great president,” they continued.

Watch:

Biden’s late son Beau, who served as Delaware’s attorney general, has been a constant presence during the convention, his memory – and the memory of his death in 2015 – a point of tragic reference for a number of speakers testifying to Biden’s humanity.

On Thursday night, two more of Biden’s children made an appearance, for the first time, in a recorded video that teed up a montage about Biden’s life.

Hunter and Ashley Biden exchanged lines in a slickly edited clip, promising that their father will “never let you down” and be “rock steady” during tough times.

“He’ll be the best friend you ever had,” Hunter said. “And if you give him your cell phone number…”

“…He’s going to call it,” Ashley continued.

They finished on a note about their brother, saying that even after his death, “he’s still very much alive in our hearts.” 

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker slammed President Donald Trump for praising the economy at a time when the pandemic has upended many Americans’ lives.

“Last week, Donald Trump said, and I quote: “our economy is doing good,” while 40 million Americans are at risk of losing their homes, 30 million aren’t getting enough to eat and 5.4 million people have lost their health care because of this crisis,” Booker said at the Democratic National Convention Thursday night.

Facts First: It’s true that tens of millions of Americans are facing housing and food insecurity, according to a Census Bureau from mid-July. While millions of folks have likely lost their health coverage, it’s not yet known exactly how many have been left uninsured.

Some 44.7 million adults missed last month’s rent or mortgage payment or who have slight or no confidence that their household can pay next month’s rent of mortgage on time, according to the most recent Census Household Pulse Survey, taken between July 16 and July 21.

That’s 26.5% of American adults.Likewise, 29.3 million adults – or 12.1%  – were in households where there was either sometimes or often not enough to eat in the last seven days, the Census survey found.As for 5.4 million Americans losing health insurance amid the coronavirus pandemic, that figure comes from a Families USA report released in mid-July.

The left-leaning advocacy group estimates how many laid-off workers lost their job-based coverage. But official data has yet to be released, and some other health care experts said the Families USA report is based on rough projections.