Harris prepares for convention keynote as Trump and Vance focus on immigration message – live

Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s reported plan to drop out and endorse Donald Trump on Friday “is a desperate attempt to change the narrative” in Trump’s currently struggling campaign, Rahna Epting, executive director of grassroots progressive organization MoveOn, said in a press call Thursday.

RFK Jr. has spent weeks begging Trump for a job, so these folks have been in cahoots for a while. He has always been a puppet of sorts for the Trump campaign.

Matt Bennett, executive vice-president for public affairs of Third Way, a center-left think tank, said it’s ultimately a good thing for Democrats that Kennedy is leaving the race, and he doesn’t think the endorsement of Trump “will bring a huge swath of voters” to his campaign.

But, Bennett noted that “the third party threat is not past,” as Jill Stein, who he described as an “asset of [Vladimir] Putin and the Russians,” is still running.

Michael Tyler, the Harris-Walz communications director, said the campaign would not be surprised if independent candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr endorsed Donald Trump. Tyler said:

RFK was obviously funded in large part by Maga donors. He carried a lot of Maga talking points throughout the campaign.

Kennedy’s campaign said he would address the nation in Phoenix on Friday “about the present historical moment and his path forward”.

He is widely expected to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, and possibly endorse Trump during his remarks in Arizona, a state where nearly one-third of the electorate is registered independent.

“My message is not for him,” Tyler said.

My message is for many of the undecided voters, many of whom found a home with him in the early stages of this campaign. If they were feeling disaffected about the state of the race, if they were looking for a new way forward ... then there’s a home for them in Kamala Harris’s campaign.

Notably absent from the list of main stage speakers announced this morning was a Palestinian American.

The exclusion has infuriated activists, some of whom are staging a sit-in in front of the United Center. But it has also angered progressives and some unions.

Michael Tyler, communications director for the Harris-Walz campaign, said the campaign has been active in its outreach to members of the uncommitted movement and said they were “glad” the delegates representing anti-war protesters were present at the convention.

“We’re absolutely not taking their votes for granted,” Tyler said.

We’ve worked to engage them throughout the convention. We’re proud of the fact that we held panel conversations with members of the Uncommitted movement. We’re proud that the vice-president herself engaged with leadership of the Uncommitted movement in Michigan a couple of weeks ago.

He added:

I think what they will see, what folks who continue to demonstrate and protest will see, is a vice president ... who’s committed to ending the violence, ending the conflict, making sure that we resolve this conflict with a permanent ceasefire.

Just in: Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost, the first member of generation Z elected to serve in Congress, will deliver a speech on the main stage at the Democratic national convention on Thursday evening. A statement from Frost reads:

I am honored to be taking the stage in Chicago on Thursday, where alongside hundreds of thousands of Americans, I will highlight that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are the best choice if we want to save our planet from the climate crisis.

In 2022, Frost defeated his Republican rival, Calvin Wimbish, by a considerable margin, winning 59% of the vote in Florida’s 10th congressional district, which includes Orlando and many of its surrounding theme parks. Frost’s statement continues:

The climate crisis is here, and Floridians know that our state is ground zero. We must elect Kamala Harris as the President of the United States for our people, our democracy, and our planet.

The White House has condemned a social media post by Donald Trump last night that called Josh Shapiro the “highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania”.

Trump, posting to Truth Social, wrote that Shapiro had “refused to acknowledge that I am the best friend that Israel, and the Jewish people, ever had”. Shapiro “has done nothing for Israel, and never will”, Trump added.

In response, Herbie Ziskend, the White House’s principal deputy communications director, said:

It is Antisemitic, dangerous, and hurtful to attack a fellow American by calling out their Jewish faith in a derogatory way, or perpetuating the centuries-old smear of “dual loyalty.” President Biden and Vice President Harris believe we must come together as Americans to condemn and combat Antisemitism – and hate and bigotry of all kinds.

The fourth and final night of Democrats’ joy-fueled convention in Chicago will feature another long list of speakers – secretaries, senators, governors, congressmen and activists – in the buildup to Kamala Harris’s formal acceptance speech.

Notable speakers include rising stars such as Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan’s governor, and Mark Kelly, the Arizona senator; Democrats running in swing races, such as Bob Casey, the Pennsylvania senator, Tammy Baldwin, the Wisconsin senator, and Ruben Gallego, the Arizona congressman who is running for an open senate seat.

Attendees will also hear from gun control advocates, including Georgia congresswoman Lucy McBath, whose 17-year-old son was shot and killed in a “stand your ground” killing, as well as members of the Tennessee Three who were expelled from the state legislature after demanding action on gun control. Gabby Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman who survived an assassination attempt, will also speak, along with other survivors and the families of victims of gun violence.

Thursday night’s theme is “For Our Future”. The evening will end with Harris’s historic acceptance speech in which she will become the first woman of color to accept a major party’s presidential nomination.

In a December 2023 speech, JD Vance defended a notorious white nationalist convicted over 2016 election disinformation, canvassed the possibility of breaking up tech companies, attacked diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts and talked about a social media “censorship regime” that “came from the deep state on some level”.

The Ohio senator’s speech was given at the launch of a “counterrevolutionary” book – praised by the now Republican vice-presidential candidate as “great” – which was edited and mostly written by employees of the far-right Claremont Institute.

In the book, Up from Conservatism, the authors advocate for the repeal of the Civil Rights Act, for politicians to conduct “deep investigations into what the gay lifestyle actually does to people”, that college and childcare be defunded and that rightwing governments “promote male-dominated industries” in order to discourage female participation in the workplace”.

Vance’s endorsement of the book may raise further questions about his extremism, and that of his networks. The Guardian emailed Vance’s Senate staff and the Trump and Vance campaign with detailed questions about his appearance at the launch, but received no response.

An impromptu sit-in that began last night at the United Center continues today. The uncommitted movement started the sit-in after the Democratic convention denied its request for a Palestinian American to speak on the main stage and said they will continue it until their request is granted.

More support for the action came in overnight, including from the United Auto Workers.

On Wednesday, movement leaders were told they were close to getting a speaker on the stage, Waleed Shahid, an organizer with uncommitted, said at a press conference this morning.

Over the course of last night, party leaders offered the uncommitted movement could have meetings with convention and Harris campaign staffers – but did not change their minds on allowing a speaker, Shahid said. The movement did not intend to disrupt the DNC, but to work with the convention process to elevate the issue and then to mobilize for Harris, he said.

Layla Elabed, a leader of the uncommitted national movement, said having a speaker on the main stage was the “bare minimum”, and far below the policy change uncommitted and anti-war voters want to see from Harris on Gaza. Elabed said:

This has been an embarrassment for those of us who had faith in the Democratic party that we still had voices here.

The movement has suggested a potential list of Palestinian American speakers, including elected officials, and their remarks would be pre-approved and vetted by the convention.

Donald Trump attacked Minnesota governor Tim Walz on Thursday morning’s Fox & Friends after the Democratic vice-presidential nominee pushed back against Trump and Project 2025 the night before. Trump said:

First of all, he’s a total lightweight and he shouldn’t be even having any access to possibly being president.

Walz closed out Wednesday night by calling out the former president and his running mate JD Vance, saying “their Project 2025” is an “agenda nobody asked for”.

The Democratic vice-presidential pick was referring to the rightwing policy document that some warn could serve as a blueprint for Trump’s administration if he wins a second term in office.

“We’ll turn the page on Donald Trump,” Walz said.

That’s how we’ll build a country where workers come first, healthcare and housing are human rights, and the government stays the hell out of your bedroom.

Nicole Shanahan, Robert F Kennedy Jr’s running mate, suggested on Tuesday that the independent presidential candidate would do an “incredible job” as secretary of health and human services in a potential Trump administration.

Donald Trump later indicated he was open to the idea of joining forces with Kennedy, telling CNN that he “probably would” appoint Kennedy to some role. Trump said:

I didn’t know he was thinking about getting out, but if he is thinking about getting out, certainly I’d be open to it.

Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, said on Wednesday that he “loved the idea” of having Kennedy appointed to a position in a Trump administration so he can take a government agency and “blow it up”. Speaking to conservative radio host Glenn Beck, Trump Jr said:

I loved the idea, love the idea of giving him some sort of role in some sort of major three-letter entity or whatever it may be and let him blow it up.

Robert F Kennedy Jr’s campaign announced yesterday that he planned to make a campaign speech on Friday addressing his “path forward”, amid speculation the independent presidential candidate and environmental lawyer will throw his support behind Donald Trump.

Kennedy’s campaign said he will hold the event in Phoenix, Arizona. Trump, meanwhile, is also set to host an event on Friday night, in Glendale, a Phoenix suburb.

Multiple outlets reported that Kennedy would use his address on Friday to endorse Trump, but sources close to the independent presidential candidate have cautioned that nothing is finalized.

Speculation that Kennedy could abandon his presidential bid intensified after his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, revealed on a podcast earlier this week that he was considering that option – and considering endorsing Trump, the Republican nominee.

Shanahan suggested Kennedy’s continued candidacy risked diverting support away from Trump, thereby helping to elect Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.

Donald Trump said he would be “honored” if he received an endorsement from the independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, who is reportedly planning to drop out of the race to back the Republican nominee.

Trump, in an interview with Fox & Friends this morning, said he had known Kennedy for a long time, describing him as a “very smart guy” and “very good person”. Trump added:

If he endorsed me. I would be honored by it. I would be very honored by it. He really has his heart in the right place. He is a respected person.

Democrats rose to their feet when Nancy Pelosi walked on stage at the United Center in Chicago for the Democratic national convention. They applauded, and then applauded louder. Pelosi waved before quieting the room.

The former House speaker began by expressing her gratitude to Joe Biden, calling his term “one of the most successful presidencies of modern times,” even though she had pushed subtly but forcefully for the president to step aside. “Thank you, Joe,” she said, before turning to Kamala Harris, a fellow California Democrat who Pelosi proclaimed was “ready to take us to new heights”.

Pelosi may have retired as House Democratic leader, but the convention has proven – if proof were needed – that the veteran congresswoman remains one of the most consequentially and uniquely influential power brokers in the party who can make – or break – a US president.

Bill Clinton, the 42nd president, made his first major speech of the 2024 presidential election cycle on Wednesday night at the Democratic national convention.

Clinton read off written notes, not the teleprompter, suggesting the speech was edited last-minute. He warned Democrats against complacency:

We’ve seen more than one election slip away from us when we thought it couldn’t happen, when people got distracted by phoney issues. This is a brutal business.

The former president landed several jabs at Donald Trump, mocking the Republican nominee for his narcissism and obsession with crowd sizes, following Barack Obama’s widely cited joke on Tuesday: “[Trump] mostly talks about himself … his vendettas, vengeance, his complaints, his conspiracies.”

Clinton appeared frail on the podium and spoke at a slow pace, but he delighted the crowd when he said: “I’m still younger than Donald Trump.” He also laid out the case for Kamala Harris, calling her the “president of joy”.

Here’s a clip of Clinton’s speech last night:

Pop singer Pink is set to perform tonight at the Democratic national convention, ahead of Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech.

The singer has been an outspoken activist for women’s rights, condemning the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade. Pink told fans who supported the court’s decision to stop listening to her music.

She’ll join the slew of performers that took the stage at the DNC this week, including Lil Jon, Stevie Wonder, Maren Morris, and John Legend.

The country music group The Chicks will perform the national anthem on Thursday night at the Democratic national convention, CNN reports.

The band, previously known as the Dixie Chicks, will take the stage when Kamala Harris delivers her speech on Thursday.

The Chicks are no stranger to political controversy. While on stage during a performance in 2003, the band announced that they disagreed with former president George W Bush’s decision to enter the Iraq War.

Here are some images from the newswires from the Democratic national convention last night.

The Democratic national convention’s final night will feature victims of gun violence and lawmakers pushing for changes at the state and national levels, according to NBC News.

Speakers tonight will include former Representative Gabby Giffords, Representative Lucy McBath, who lost her son Jordan to gun violence in 2012, and the “Tennessee Three,” made up of representatives Justin Jones, Gloria Johnson and Justin J Pearson.

Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, is at the California delegation’s breakfast meeting in Chicago this morning.

Jeffries told delegates that “the east-coast, west-coast conflict is over. We’re all together,” according to Punchbowl News’s Jake Sherman.

The California delegates will have all female speakers at their breakfast in honor of Kamala Harris’s historic nomination, the outlet’s Mica Soellner reports.