DNC 2024 live: Barack Obama to headline day two; former aide says Trump has ‘no fidelity to truth’

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Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen shows up at Democratic convention

Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen has turned up the Democratic national convention, for reasons unknown.

Cohen fell out with Trump years ago, and was a witness for the prosecution in the former president’s hush money trial in New York, which ended with him being found guilty of 34 felonies related to falsifying business documents.

Now, Cohen is hobnobbing with Trump’s sworn political enemies:

Michael Cohen, at the Democratic national convention. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

We won’t be seeing Joe Biden again at this convention, but we’re going to hear plenty about his policies, and how Kamala Harris will carry on their most popular aspects.

Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans who the Biden administration tasked with supervising the implementation of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, is talking up the legislation’s benefits before the delegates.

“After years of dead ends and broken promises, President Biden and vice-president Harris brought Republicans and Democrats together to actually get something done. Trump promised infrastructure week, but never built anything. But this time, the Biden-Harris administration is actually breaking ground, and we’re starting to turn dirt, ushering in an infrastructure decade,” Landrieu said.

Former White House press secretary says Trump has 'no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth'

Stephanie Grisham, who served as White House press secretary for part of Donald Trump’s term, just appeared on the Democratic convention stage to denounce her former boss.

“I wasn’t just a Trump supporter. I was a true believer. I was one of his closest advisers. The Trump family became my family,” she said.

Grisham then accused the former president of mocking his supporters in private, saying: “He calls them basement dwellers. On a hospital visit one time, when people were dying in the ICU, he was mad that the cameras were not watching him. He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth.”

She said the former president once advised her: “It doesn’t matter what you say, Stephanie, say it enough and people will believe you.

“What you says matter, and what you don’t say matters. On January 6, I asked [then first lady Melania Trump] if we could at least tweet that while peaceful protest is the right of every American, there’s no place for lawlessness or violence. She replied with one word: ‘No,’” Grisham said, recounting that she resigned after that.

“Now, here I am behind a podium advocating for a Democrat, and that’s because I love my country more than my party. Kamala Harris tells the truth. She respects the American people, and she has my vote.”

At the convention, we just heard from Kyle Sweetser, an Alabama resident, who said he used to vote for Donald Trump, but stopped doing so after tariffs implemented during the former president’s administration drove up costs at his construction job.

“Costs for construction workers like me were starting to soar. I realized Trump wasn’t for me. He was for lining his own pockets,” Sweetser said.

In a message that Democrats would certainly like moderate voters to hear, Sweetser said: “Now, I’m not left wing period, but I believe our leaders should bring out the best in us, not the worst. That’s why I’m voting for Kamala Harris. She’s tough. She’s going to tackle inflation. Trump will make it worse. I’m voting for Kamala Harris because she’ll make us proud to be American again.”

Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, will focus his remarks on the US economy.

“Bottom line: we need an economy that works for all of us, not just the greed of the billionaire class,” Sanders plans to say, in a preview of his speech his press office shared with journalists.

Here’s more:

These oligarchs tell us we shouldn’t tax the rich; we shouldn’t take on price gouging; we shouldn’t expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing and vision; and we shouldn’t increase Social Security benefits for struggling seniors.

Well, I’ve got some bad news for them.

That is precisely what we are going to do and we’re going to win this struggle because this is precisely what the American people want from their government.

Kamala Harris has also been discussing plans to propose a federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries and lowering the cost of education and childcare. She is no longer promoting Medicare for All, which she initially had co-sponsored with Sanders, as part of a broader shift toward the center. But she has been promoting strengthening Medicare and expanding other health programs that area already in place.

Here’s more on her platform:

In his speech tonight, Doug Emhoff will share why he sees his wife Kamala Harris as a “joyful warrior”, according to excerpts the DNC sent to journalists.

“Whenever she’s needed, however she’s needed, Kamala rises to the occasion,” Emhoff plans to say. “She did it for me and our family. Now that the country needs her, she’s showing you what we already know: she’s ready to lead, she brings both joy and toughness to this task and she will be a great president who we will all be proud of.”

Emhoff has become an important surrogate for Harris on the campaign trail, speaking about reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights and antisemitism.

The second gentleman, who is a lawyer and visiting professor at Georgetown University Law Center, has faced a wave of antisemitic, misogynistic attacks since his wife became a presidential candidate. If Harris wins the election, Emhoff would become the first ever first gentleman.

How to watch this evening's Democratic national convention

There are lots of ways to watch night two of the Democratic national convention. CSpan will have it live, as will several YouTube channels, and the Guardian will, of course, be live blogging it from inside the United Center in Chicago.

Democrats are hoping their message reaches millions of American voters, and particularly those in the seven swing states they view as key to putting Kamala Harris in the White House. Here’s more about how to tune in to tonight’s show:

Who is scheduled to speak on night two of the Democratic national convention?

We are expecting about two dozen speakers at the Democratic national convention this evening, as well as a ceremonial roll call of state delegations to confirm Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s place atop the ticket. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of who is scheduled to speak, and when:

The Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison will gavel in the convention’s second evening at 5.30pm CT, and after that, we’ll hear from Jimmy Carter’s grandson Jason Carter, and Jack Schlossberg, John F Kennedy’s grandson.

In the 6pm hour, Donald Trump’s former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham will speak, and after her comes senator Gary Peters.

The ceremonial roll call is scheduled for the 7pm hour and after 8pm, we will hear from the Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, and the progressive luminary Bernie Sanders.

From 9pm, Angela Alsobrooks, the party’s nominee for Maryland’s open Senate seat, will give remarks, followed by Illinois senator Tammy Duckworth, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, and former first lady Michelle Obama.

Barack Obama is scheduled to make the keynote speech at 10pm, and the night’s programming will conclude after that.

Attendees arrive at the United Center on the second day of the DNC. Photograph: Alyssa Pointer/Reuters

Influencers pose near the social media area of the United Center ahead of day two of the Democratic national convention in Chicago. Photograph: Alyssa Pointer/Reuters

Barack Obama to deliver keynote speech on second night of Democratic national convention

Hello, US politics blog readers, and thanks for joining us as we cover the second night of the Democratic national convention. Barack Obama will be the keynote speaker this evening, the theme of which is “A Bold Vision for America’s Future.” Before he takes the stage at the United Center in Chicago, we will hear from Michelle Obama, the former first lady, Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, the independent senator Bernie Sanders and a slew of other top Democrats and party allies.

In addition, a ceremonial roll call will be held, where state delegations are to announce their support for Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee and the Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate. But we do not expect to see either of them until much later in the evening, because Harris and Walz are holding a rally in Milwaukee, the largest city in the neighboring swing state of Wisconsin, that coincides with the convention.

The convention kicked off at 5.30pm CT and is scheduled to wrap up sometime after 10pm. Here’s more of what we know about the night’s events:

• Obama is expected to deliver a “forceful affirmation” of Harris’s candidacy in his speech to the convention, an advisor to the former president told CNN today.

• Several senators are speaking tonight, including the majority leader Chuck Schumer, Michigan’s Gary Peters and Illinois’s Tammy Duckworth. Angela Alsobrooks, the party’s nominee in Maryland and an understudy of Harris, will also give remarks.

• Stephanie Grisham, a former press secretary in Donald Trump’s White House, will be one of the earlier speakers and likely denounce her former boss.

• The night’s invocation will be given by Los Angeles-based rabbi Sharon Brous and Talib M Shareef, an imam from Washington DC.

• Do not expect to see Joe Biden. The president was last night’s keynote speaker, giving an address that served to pass the torch to Harris and mark the conclusion of his more than five decades in politics. He then departed Chicago for vacation in California.