Washington — The Democratic National Convention Committee has unveiled its list of primetime speakers for the convention next week, rolling out a lineup that unites the party’s progressive wings with the Democratic establishment.
The Democratic National Convention is set to kick off August 17 and will feature four nights of speakers who will address supporters remotely from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Nightly keynote speeches will be given by Michelle Obama on Monday, Jill Biden on Tuesday and Barack Obama on Wednesday. On Thursday, Joe Biden will formally accept his party’s presidential nomination with a speech Thursday.
The gathering, which has been roiled by the coronavirus crisis, begins Monday and will feature Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who went head-to-head with Biden in the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination after the party’s vast field of candidates narrowed.
Joining Sanders will be Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who met with Biden in Delaware as part of his search for a running mate, and former presidential hopeful Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. Republican John Kasich, the former governor of Ohio who sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, is also slated to speak Monday, as is New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Tuesday’s lineup features former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and former President Bill Clinton.
Biden’s pick for vice president, which he is expected to announce this week, is set to speak Wednesday, and she will be joined by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Closing out the Democratic National Convention with speeches Thursday are a number of Biden’s former competitors in the 2020 race, including Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California, and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
A number of the vice presidential contenders are sprinkled throughout the speaking lineup rolled out by Democrats, including Whitmer, Harris, Warren, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottom, and Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth.
The Democratic National Convention was originally to take place in Milwaukee, but the coronavirus pandemic prompted the party to revamp the gathering. The Democrats said last week that all invited speakers will appear remotely from their home states, and Biden will deliver his acceptance speech from his home state of Delaware instead of in Milwaukee.