Sen. Amy Klobuchar: Minnesota loves 'a dad in plaid'
Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota delivered a nominating speech for Walz, praising him and saying that in Minnesota, they love "a dad in plaid."
She brought up his "Midwestern common sense" and highlighted his background as a former football coach and public school teacher, before she pivoted his legislative accomplishments.
"Tim has delivered paid leave, school lunches and the biggest tax cut in Minnesota history," she said.
John Legend and Sheila E. play tribute to Prince
John Legend and Sheila E. played a tribute to Prince tonight with the song "Let’s Go Crazy."
The song originally appeared on the album "Purple Rain" in 1984.
Prince grew up in Minneapolis. Tonight's performance preceded remarks by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and the keynote speech by Walz.
Pete Buttigieg brings politics into personal terms, talking about his family
Buttigieg brought politics into personal terms, sharing what dinnertime is like with his husband and two children.
Buttigieg, the first openly gay Cabinet secretary who was Senate-confirmed for his Cabinet position, said the makeup of his kitchen table was "literally impossible" just a few decades ago.
"This kind of life went from impossible to possible, from possible to real, from real to almost ordinary in less than half a lifetime," Buttigieg said.
He noted that the outcome was the result of organizing and politics.
Buttigieg also argued that when Trump chose Vance as his running mate, it sent the message that Republicans are selling "darkness."
"Politics at its worse can be ugly, crushing, demeaning, but it doesn't have to be," he said.
"Right now, the other side is appealing to what is smallest within you," Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg is the secretary of transportation, but he spoke tonight in his personal capacity.
Oprah pays tribute to civil rights icon
Oprah Winfrey paid tribute to civil rights icon Tessie Prevost Williams, who died last month after a series of medical complications.
Prevost Williams, who was known as one of the “New Orleans Four," helped to integrate public schools in the South. As a 6-year-old, she sat in a classroom alone with one other little girl after the parents of white children refused to send their kids to school when they learned Black students would attend.
"They broke barriers, and they paid dearly for it," Winfrey said.
"It was the grace and guts and courage of women like Tessie Prevost Williams that paved the way for another young girl who nine years later became part of the second class to integrate the public schools of Berkeley, California," she said of Harris.
Pete Buttigieg jokes about being recognized from Fox News
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joked at the beginning of his remarks that people might recognize him from his appearances on Fox News.
"Here is a sentence I never thought I'd hear myself saying: I'm Pete Buttigieg, and you might recognize me from Fox News," he said with a chuckle.
Buttigieg is speaking at the convention in a personal capacity, not as secretary of transportation.
Oprah Winfrey: 'Let us choose joy'
Oprah Winfrey delivered a passionate endorsement for Harris to a roaring audience, urging voters to "choose joy."
"Let us choose truth," she said. "Let us choose honor, and let us choose joy!"
Winfrey, whose endorsement of former President Barack Obama in the 2008 election dramatically shook up the Democratic primaries, highlighted Harris’ upbringing, saying Americans would soon be teaching children about how the daughter of immigrants “grew up to become the 47th president of the United States.”
“That is the best of America,” she said as the audience cheered and chanted “USA!”
Winfrey shared that she has seen racism, sexism and income inequality in her travels across the country but argued that "we are not so different from our neighbors," bringing up an anecdote about people wanting to save a neighbor if their house is on fire — despite any differences.
"And if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady, well, we try to get that cat out, too," she said, referring to Vance's derisive comments about Harris, Buttigieg and other U.S. officials without biological children.
"We are beyond ridiculous tweets and lies and foolery," she said.
Winfrey also said she is a proud independent.
"I'm calling on all you independents and all you undecideds," Winfrey said. "You know this is true. You know I'm telling you the truth, that values and character matter most of all, in leadership and in life."
She called for voters to choose "common sense over nonsense"
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore recalls Harris' support after bridge collapse
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore recalled Harris being among the first to call him in March after a bridge collapse in Baltimore killed six people and shut down an international port.
"You learn everything you need to know about somebody when times are hard and when the temperature gets turned up. And America, I saw that Kamala Harris is the right one to lead in this moment firsthand," Moore said.
He added that Harris had helped bring closure to the victims' families and that the reopening of the Port of Baltimore, which occurred in June, had been completed within weeks, "because that is the story of America."
Moore, a combat veteran, also took an apparent jab at Trump, whose diagnosis of bone spurs allowed him to avoid the military draft to serve in Vietnam.
"I had to ask my mom to sign the paperwork for me, because I don't have bone spurs," Moore said, noting that he had enlisted at age 17.
Moore was elected the first Black governor in Maryland in 2022.
Poet Amanda Gorman revives the audacity of hope
Amanda Gorman, who in 2021 became the youngest poet to perform at a presidential inauguration, once again brought her words of courage, civility and unity to a Democratic stage.
Tonight she echoed the title of Barack Obama's autobiography "The Audacity of Hope" when she described the American dream.
"Tomorrow is not written by our odds of hardship but by the audacity of our hope, by the vitality of our vote," she said. "Only now approaching this rare air are we aware that perhaps the American Dream is no dream at all, but instead a dare to dream together, like a million roots, tethered, branching up, humbly, making one tree."
Nancy Pelosi is a villain in Biden’s inner circle — and a hero to the rest of the Democratic Party
In the morality play that yielded a new Democratic presidential nominee last month, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., could be seen as a heroine who risked a political backlash to save her party’s chances in November or a villain who bloodlessly, needlessly and rashly pushed aside its sitting president.
When she stepped to the lectern at the convention tonight — as a two-time speaker of the House who voluntarily gave up her own power last year after she helped deliver the legislative agendas of Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden — she was greeted as a favorite.
Gov. Josh Shapiro: Democrats 'are the party of real freedom'
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro leaned into the message of freedom, arguing that Democrats "are the party of real freedom."
He cast education, public safety, union rights and marriage equality in terms of freedom.
“Hear me on this: It’s not freedom to tell our children what books they're allowed to read," said Shapiro, who had been a top contender to be Harris’ running mate.
He also argued that Americans have made progress in every chapter and that "today we find ourselves writing that next chapter."
“You all give me hope, and you all have the power," he said. "So let's use that power.”