The Democratic National Convention Committee on Tuesday announced its speaker line-up for next week’s convention, unveiling a list that includes both Barack and Michelle Obama, Jill Biden and a host of women Joe Biden has considered as his running mate.
The speaker list for the convention has been scaled back significantly after the coronavirus forced Democratic planners to scrap plans for an in-person event in Milwaukee and shrink most of the live programming to two hours each night from 9 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET.
Michelle Obama and Jill Biden will headline the first two nights of the convention, and Joe Biden’s running mate, along with former President Barack Obama, will deliver the keynote Wednesday evening. Biden, introduced by his family, will accept the nomination on Thursday night.
Neither Joe Biden nor his running mate — who has yet to be announced — will travel to Milwaukee, the original convention site, due to safety concerns related to Covid-19. Instead, Biden will accept the nomination from Delaware.
The fact that certain names were featured on the speaking list sparked speculation about who Biden would pick as his running mate. But the slate of speakers remains fluid and Biden’s running mate, who he is expected to name shortly, could easily be moved from a different night to the Wednesday night time slot.
The list of speakers from the four-night event aims to represent the ideological diversity inside the Democratic Party, with representatives from the party’s left like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaking, along with more moderate members of the party like vulnerable Alabama Sen. Doug Jones and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar each getting key speaking slots.
Monday’s speaker line-up features the broadest representation of Joe Biden’s supporters across the Democratic spectrum, from Sanders, a leader of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party to Klobuchar, his one-time primary opponent. Former Gov. John Kasich, who ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2016, is also slated to speak on the same evening.
Former President Bill Clinton will speak ahead of Jill Biden on Tuesday. And Wednesday’s notable speakers include an array of female leaders in the Democratic Party including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Warren, leading up to the female vice presidential nominee and a closing speech by former President Barack Obama.
Former presidential candidates and Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg are slated to speak on Thursday evening ahead of Joe Biden, along with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.
Also included in Monday’s line-up are Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sen. Doug Jones and Reps. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and Gwen Moore of Milwaukee. Longtime Biden confidant and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn is expected to speak on Monday, as well as potential vice presidential pick Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Other speakers Tuesday evening include former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, Sen. Chuck Schumer, former Secretary of State John Kerry, and Biden campaign co-chair Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware. Gov. Tony Evers, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, and Gabrielle Giffords will speak Wednesday.
Thursday’s speakers include Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin and longtime Biden friend Sen. Chris Coons, who replaced Biden in the Senate from Delaware after he became vice president.
Normally the political conventions fill four days full of programming from a jam-packed arena. This year Democrats will move the event online and programming will be condensed, running for only two hours each night. The convention is slated to take place from August 17-20, after Democrats pushed their convention back by a month because of the coronavirus pandemic.