DNC 2024 highlights: Kamala Harris accepts historic nomination in speech capping Democratic convention

Harris told NBC News that she's feeling great after her big speech but is looking ahead to the next stage of her campaign.

"I feel good," she said. "Now onto tomorrow."

She added that in the moment, "it felt great, it felt good," but "we’ve got 75 days to go, so maybe for better and for worse, that’s the way I am. Like, that was good, now we gotta move on."

Statement

“He and his allies would limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion and enact a nationwide abortion ban, with or without Congress. And get this. He plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator and force states to report on women's miscarriages and abortions. Simply put, they are out of their minds.”

A few dozen protesters who remained at Union Park after the march bolted into traffic after a person was taken into police custody.

The man police apprehended had been waving a large black flag throughout the protest, and he defied police orders by continuing to do so in the street after the march concluded.

As the protesters sprinted from the park, some delegates and attendees of the convention were exiting the United Center by car and on foot. Some of the protesters began verbally confronting some of the convention attendees.

At one point, the group yelled “shame, shame, shame,” and people leaving the convention were still holding signs.

Harris spoke for just over 37 minutes tonight, making her acceptance speech one of the shortest in modern history.

The record for shortest speech was set in 1972 by George McGovern, who spoke for just under 22 minutes.

By comparison, Trump spoke for 93 minutes at the Republican convention in the longest presidential nominee acceptance speech, beating his own record in 2016.

After Democrats repeatedly highlighted Project 2025 as a blueprint for a second Trump term, he again disavowed the plan in a Fox News interview tonight.

"I don't want to see it," he said of Project 2025.

Trump and his campaign have disavowed Project 2025, though it was written by several allies and former Trump administration officials.

Police in riot gear have moved in to reinforce the police line and were in an organized formation as a breakaway protest group tried to leave Union Park.

Police also issued a formal dispersal order on a megaphone.

Among the remaining protesters, there were a person playing an electric guitar in rhythm with some of the chants and another person dressed as a wizard.

After a brief standoff with police — which included the formal dispersal order — most of the protesters retreated back into the park.

Trump said in an interview on Fox News that "the United Auto Workers ought to be ashamed of themselves."

The union has endorsed Harris, and its president, Shawn Fain, spoke at the convention Monday.

"They sold the workers down the tubes," he argued.

Harris outlined a vision for America to write the "next chapter" in a speech that warned against Trump and offered optimism for the future.

Harris said she and Biden are working around the clock to get a "hostage deal and a cease-fire deal done."

"Let me be clear, I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on Oct. 7, including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival. At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating," she said.

It was a full-throated defense of Israel's right to defend itself in the face of calls from some in the Democratic Party to break with Biden.

"So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking," she continued. "President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination."

The convention has come to a close with the ceremonial balloon drop — 100,00 balloons, according to a convention official.

The official noted that the special process used to inflate so many balloons was developed in 1988 and that the balloons are inflated at the convention center.

It takes a village — a group of 75 volunteers, 30 staff members and about a dozen stagehands — to prepare the balloons.

The official added that while there are red, white and blue balloons of two different sizes, there are no gold balloons. (This year's Republican National Convention balloon drop included red, white, blue and gold balloons.)

Statement

"We know what a second Trump term would look like. It's all laid out in Project 2025, written by his closest advisers."

The 60 or so protesters who decided to sit down in the middle of a street adjacent to Union Park after the march had ended have moved inside the park.

After the march, police in riot gear had initially surrounded the improvised sit-in before they backed off and allowed them to continue.

After about an hour, the protesters, without any provocation, decided to move into Union Park.

They are the only protesters left in the park. A few dozen officers with riot helmets are lined up on the Ashland Avenue edge of the park.

Harris wrapped her speech by emphasizing that it is "our turn to do what generations before us have done."

"Guided by optimism and faith, to fight for this country we love, to fight for the ideals we cherish and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth: the privilege and pride of being an American," she said.

Harris then urged everyone to vote in order to "write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told."

In keeping with the general theme of her campaign, Harris repeated an increasingly familiar refrain.

"We have so much more in common than what separates us," she said. "In unity there is strength."

Harris referred to the U.S. as the "greatest democracy in the history of the world” and called on voters to stand up on behalf of future generations.

"We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world," she said. "And on behalf of our children and grandchildren and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty, we must be worthy of this moment."

Harris struck a hawkish tone on Iran, saying she would "never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists." (The U.S. for decades has designated Tehran one of the leading state sponsors of global terrorism.)

The Democratic nominee pledged that she would never "cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong Un [of North Korea], who are rooting for Trump because they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors."

Harris pledged to advocate for the passage of legislation to advance voters' rights.

"We finally have the opportunity to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act," she said.

Republicans have taken steps to change election laws at the state level in the wake of Trump's defeat in 2020. The Georgia Election Board last week approved a measure that could delay certification processes after the election.

In a section of her speech focused on the military, Harris promised, "As commander in chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world."

She added, "I will fulfill our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families, and I will always honor and never disparage their service and their sacrifice."

Statement

"Consider the power he will have, especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled that he would be immune from criminal prosecution."

Harris pledged to bring back the bipartisan border bill that Trump worked to squash, saying that she would sign it into law. She highlighted her experience as a prosecutor, saying she knows the importance of security.

"Last year, Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades," she said. "The Border Patrol endorsed it, but Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign, so he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal. Well, I refuse to play politics with our security."

In addition to references to Jan. 6, Harris took on Trump's other legal battles head-on. Trump faces indictments in Georgia as well as a federal indictment out of Washington, D.C., over his efforts to overturn election results.

"And now for an entirely different set of crimes, he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans," Harris said, referring to Trump's conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

Harris also referred to a jury that found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll.

"Consider what he intends to do if we give him power again. Consider his explicit intent to set free violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers at the Capitol," Harris said.

Harris says that if Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, she would "proudly" sign it into law.

She did not mince words when she said Trump and his allies are "out of their minds" for limiting access to abortion, birth control and other health care.

"Why exactly is it that they don't trust women? Well, we trust women. We trust women," she said.

Harris spoke about how she had a middle-class upbringing and said that her mother kept a "strict budget."

"We lived within our means, yet we wanted for little, and she expected us to make the most of the opportunities that were available to us and to be grateful for them, because, as she taught us, opportunity is not available to everyone," Harris said.

Harris said that, if elected, she would create an "opportunity economy" where she said, "Everyone has the chance to compete and a chance to succeed."

"Whether you live in a rural area, small town or big city, and as president, I will bring together labor and workers and small-business owners and entrepreneurs and American companies to create jobs, to grow our economy and to lower the cost of everyday needs like health care and housing and groceries," she said. "We will provide access to capital for small-business owners and entrepreneurs and founders, and we will end America's housing shortage and protect Social Security and Medicare."

Harris said Trump would run up the national debt with "another round of tax breaks" for wealthy Americans.

"All the while, he intends to enact what, in effect, is a national sales tax — call it a Trump tax — that would raise prices on middle-class families by almost $4,000 a year," she told the crowd. "Well, instead of a Trump tax hike, we will pass a middle-class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans."

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who faces a tough re-election fight, told NBC Montana, “I’m not going to endorse for the presidential, and I will tell you why.”

“No. 1, I’m focused on my race,” Tester said at an event in Hamilton, Montana. “And No. 2, folks have wanted to nationalize this race, and this isn’t about national politics; this is about Montana.”

Tester will face Trump-backed Tim Sheehy in a state Trump won twice. Tester is not attending the convention this week.

Harris urged voters to "consider what he intends to do if we give him power again."

"Consider the power he will have, especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled that he would be immune from criminal prosecution," she said.

"Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States, not to improve your life, not to strengthen our national security, but to serve the only client he has ever had: himself," she said.

"We know what a second Trump term would look like," Harris said. "It's all laid out in Project 2025, written by his closest advisers."

Project 2025's goal "is to pull our country back to the past. But America, we are not going back. We are not going back," Harris said before she listed off a series of GOP policy proposals, like eliminating the Affordable Care Act and the Education Department.

Harris argued that another Trump term would have serious consequences.

"Consider not only the chaos and calamity when he was in office" and then what happened when he lost, Harris said in reference to Jan. 6.

"Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes, and he failed. ... When politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help, he did the opposite. He fanned the flames," she said.

Harris detailed her work as a courtroom prosecutor, saying she stood up for women and children and against people who abused them.

"As attorney general of California, I took on the big banks, delivered $20 billion for middle-class families who faced foreclosure and helped pass a homeowner bill of rights, one of the first of its kind in the nation," she said.

"I stood up for veterans and students being scammed by big for-profit colleges for workers who are being cheated out of their wages, the wages they were due," she continued.

In Harris' previous races for public office — San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, U.S. senator — "we were underestimated at practically every turn," she told the crowd.

"But we never gave up, because the future is always worth fighting for — and that's the fight we are in right now: a fight for America's future," she added to thunderous applause.

Harris formally accepted the Democratic nomination for president "on behalf of the people."

"My entire career, I've only had one client: the people. And so on behalf of the people, on behalf of every American, regardless of party, race, gender or the language your grandmother speaks," Harris started.

"On behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey, on behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with, people who work hard, chase their dreams and look out for one another," Harris continued, "on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America."

Tonight's march has ended peacefully. A few hundred ralliers remain inside Union Park chanting and holding flags.

A smaller group has decided to remain in a street adjacent to the park — Ashland Avenue — sitting on the ground in an effort to keep the public protest continuing outside the park.

Police in riot gear initially surrounded those on the ground, but as some protesters chanted “out of the park, into the street,” police backed off to give them more space to protest.

Harris took a moment in her speech to appeal to "people of various political views watching tonight," looking directly into the camera and telling them, "I want you to know I promise to be a president for all Americans."

She added, "You can always trust me to put country above party and self, to hold sacred America's fundamental principles, from the rule of law to free and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power." 

Harris said tonight that she grew up learning about the values of the Civil Rights Movement, which inspired her to become a lawyer.

"I grew up immersed in the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement. My parents had met at a civil rights gathering, and they made sure that we learned about civil rights leaders, including the lawyers like Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley, those who battled in the courtroom to make real the promise of America," she said.

Harris also recounted the story of her best friend in high school, Wanda, who she said was sexually abused by her stepfather.

Describing her mom, Harris said she was "tough, courageous, a trailblazer." But perhaps the greatest lesson she taught her two daughters was simple.

"Never do anything half-assed. And that is a direct quote," Harris said to laughs and applause.  

Trump is giving live responses to Harris on his Truth Social website, posting about the speech over half a dozen times since she began.

"Too many 'Thank yous,' too rapidly said, what’s going on with her?" he said as Harris began speaking and tried to calm members of a raucous crowd by repeatedly thanking them.

He panned Harris' reference to "Coach [Tim] Walz," noting "Walz was an ASSISTANT Coach, not a COACH."

He posted, in a reference to Biden's son, "WHERE'S HUNTER?"

He reposted a video panning Harris as a "San Francisco radical," and he lamented that there's a "lot of talk about childhood, we’ve got to get to the Border, Inflation, and Crime!

Harris began her speech saying that "the path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected, but I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys."

She spoke about her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, saying, "I miss her every day, and especially right now — and I know she’s looking down, smiling." Harris said that her mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone, traveling from India to California "with an unshakable dream to be the scientist who would cure breast cancer."

"When she finished school, she was supposed to return home to a traditional arranged marriage, but as fate would have it, she met my father, Donald Harris, a student from Jamaica. They fell in love and got married, and that act of self-determination made my sister, Maya, and me," Harris said.

Harris told the crowd about her father, Jamaican economist Donald Harris, who taught her to be "fearless." When they went to the park, Harris recalled, her mother would say, "Stay close" — but her father would say: "Run, Kamala, run. Don't let anything stop you."

In her initial remarks after taking the stage, Harris wished her husband a happy anniversary before she thanked Biden for his service.

"When I think about the path that we have traveled together, Joe, I am filled with gratitude," Harris said, adding: "Your record is extraordinary, as history will show, and your character is inspiring, and Doug and I love you and Jill and are forever thankful to you both."

Harris has walked onto the stage where she will accept the nomination shortly.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper reflected on his time as his state's attorney general, which he did at the same time that Harris was California's attorney general.

"All the AGs were close to a settlement with the big banks," Cooper said, referring to a moment in 2011. "And it was a pretty good deal ... but Kamala said: 'Hang on a minute. I’ve met with these families. I know what they’ve been through, and they deserve more.' So she went toe to toe with some of the world’s most powerful executives. And she refused to give in."

Maya Harris, the vice president's sister, said in her speech that Americans are living in a time "when some are trying to divide us, to separate us in ways that make it difficult for us to come together."

"My sister rejects that view," she said. "Where others push darkness, Kamala sees promise. Where others feel detachment, Kamala fosters connection. Where others want to drag us back to the past, my sister says, 'Hold up now. We are not going back.'"

She continued: "Kamala understands we have so much more in common than what separates us. She knows the measure of our success isn't just winning an election. It's about who we bring along and lift up in the process."

Maya Harris, the vice president's sister, shared their family's story with the convention audience, recalling that their mother moved to the U.S. from India to pursue a better life and encouraged her daughters to be "the authors of our own stories."

"Mommy's journey, and the opportunity that she wanted for Kamala and me — that's a distinctly American story," Maya Harris said of her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, a biomedical scientist who died in 2009, a year before Kamala Harris was elected as California's attorney general.

She said that if her late mother were there, she would say how proud she was of her daughter. Then, "without missing a beat, she'd say, 'That's enough. You've got work to do.'"

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a Republican, acknowledged onstage tonight that he "never thought I'd be here."

He said it was a "sometimes awkward alliance" with Democrats to defend democracy, adding that Democrats were just as patriotic as Republicans.

Kinzinger said the Republican Party was "no longer conservative" after having switched its allegiance to Trump.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has officially withdrawn his petition to get on the Arizona ballot in November, JP Martin, communications officer for the Arizona secretary of state, told NBC News.

After more than 2½ hours of slow marching through the streets of Chicago, tonight's protest has reached Union Park, where protesters are slowly re-entering the space.

Leaders are still chanting their slogans as protesters gradually make their way back to the softball fields in Union Park.

Trump has called Gov. Gretchen Whitmer "that woman from Michigan" as an insult, but she wears it as a "badge of honor," she said in her speech tonight.

Like most women in the U.S., she's used to just "getting stuff done" and having to juggle work, children and everything else in between, Whitmer said. Harris understands what that's like while Trump never could, she said.

"You think he’s ever had to take items out of the cart before checking out? Hell, you think he’s ever been to a grocery store?" she joked. "But Kamala Harris, she gets us, she sees us. She is us."

Whitmer also briefly touched on the kidnapping plot against her in 2020. She said the country has lived through a lot of historic events recently, including "an attempted coup, a plot and a pandemic."

For the first time this week, a blue curtain has gone up at the podium in the convention hall, blocking NBC News reporters' view backstage, where speakers can usually be seen gathering before they’re on deck to take the stage.

Rumors are swirling that a special guest is set to take the stage later in the evening.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a former Marine who is running for the Senate in Arizona, told the crowd that Democrats "put country over politics" when it comes to taking care of military veterans.

"We have a duty to care for our patriots who serve our nation," Gallego said, minutes before he was joined onstage by other Democratic elected officials who served in the armed forces, including Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.

Gallego went on to slam Trump for comments he has made about veterans over the years, including the late Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

“John McCain was an American hero," he said. "Show some respect.”

In the Senate race, Gallego faces Republican nominee Kari Lake, a Trump-backed former TV news anchor who lost the election for governor in 2022.

Former CIA Director Leon Panetta talked up Harris' leadership tonight and blasted Trump's approach to foreign policy.

"She knows a tyrant when she sees one, and our allies know a leader when they see one," Panetta said.

He called Trump's "isolationist" policy proposals "foolish and dangerous."

"Let me tell you something: When [Harris] takes her oath of office, as she will this January, our allies will cheer, our enemies will fear, and we will have a commander in chief that we can trust."

Protesters have reached the edge of Union Park — their final destination — but have again paused.

They are yelling, screaming, cheering and chanting “Gaza” to the rhythm of their drums.

Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona focused his remarks on the importance of teamwork, saying it takes a team to accomplish a mission and pointing to his experience as an astronaut and a veteran.

Kelly spoke about international threats, contrasting Trump's and Harris' views toward U.S. allies and adversaries.

Trump was too busy "sucking up to dictators and dreaming of becoming one himself," Kelly said. He said Harris understands that working with allies means "standing up for Americans."

Kelly, who had been under consideration to be Harris' running mate, began his remarks by joking that Barack Obama had to follow Michelle Obama in his convention speech the other night, while he himself had to follow his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., and a performance by Pink.

After pausing in the same location for more than 40 minutes, the protest has again begun marching in the direction back toward Union Park.

Organizers had said they wanted to stay in place as close as they could to when Harris takes the stage. There are still several speakers to go before Harris speaks.

Police leaders repeatedly talked directly to march organizers in the minutes before the protest resumed moving.

Pop singer-songwriter Pink left the convention stage to a standing ovation after she delivered an emotional performance of her pop anthem “What About Us?,” considered a political protest song that highlights inclusive messaging. Pink has been a longtime advocate for LGBTQ rights and has publicly aligned with Democratic messaging on reproductive rights.

Released in 2017, "What About Us?" was the hit single from Pink's seventh studio album, "Beautiful Trauma." Among those who sang beside her was her daughter, Willow Hart.

Former Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona recalled the horrifying day a gunman shot her in the head point-blank in 2011.

Giffords almost died after the shooting, in which the gunman shot 19 people and killed six, but she survived with the help of her husband, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a former astronaut, she told the convention.

"I learned to walk again, one step at a time," she said.

"I learned to talk again, one word at a time. So many people held me as I worked hard to recover, including a decent man from Delaware who always checked in. He still does," she added, referring to Biden.

Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., who became a prominent advocate for stricter gun control measures after her teenage son was shot dead at a Florida gas station in 2012, introduced a series of convention speakers whose relatives were lost to gun violence.

The speakers included Abbey Clements, a teacher who survived the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012; Kimberly Rubio, whose daughter was killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022; Melody McFadden, whose mother was killed by her boyfriend when she was a teenager; and Edgar Vilchez, a gun safety activist from Chicago.

Clements and Rubio fought back tears as they recounted the horrific school shootings. McBath then linked the gun violence epidemic to the stakes in the November election.

The front line of the march has stalled at the same spot for at least 30 minutes, and the tenor of their chants has shifted from pro-Palestinian to a more frequent anti-police message.

“Oink, oink, piggy, piggy we are going to make your lives s----y,” protesters chanted.

“Move cops get out the way, we know you’re Israeli trained,” they yelled.

Police aren’t appearing to pressure further movement forward for the march but have spoken a number of times directly with organizers. Organizers said they have paused because they want to more overtly make their point during the time Harris prepares to take the stage at the United Center.

Sheriff Chris Swanson of Michigan's Genesee County, who was in uniform onstage tonight, said the Jan. 6 riot was consumed with "division, deceit and denigration."

"It should’ve been stopped. We need a leader who will embody the motto affixed on all three sides of our sheriff patrol cars: protect, serve, and unify. Kamala Harris is that leader," he said.

Swanson said that crime is down and that police funding is up where he comes from.

"And as president, Kamala Harris will unify our country. She will bring us together. Our country needs a leader who goes toe to toe with cartels and bullies, who’s taken an oath to advocate for the people," he said.

Biden might not be at the DNC tonight, but he and first lady Jill Biden still "can't wait" to watch Harris accept her party's nomination from afar, the president said on X.

Biden posted a photo of him with his wife, writing, “Kamala and Tim will inspire a generation and lead us into the future.”

He also said they spoke with Harris ahead of her speech tonight.

Actor and comedian DL Hughley took the stage near the start of the convention's evening programming, telling jokes, including a dig at Trump's questioning of Harris' heritage.

"Kamala has been Black a lot longer than Trump's been a Republican," he said.

He also joked later about Harris' and Walz's professions, telling the crowd: "If you told me, the 15-year-old me, I would be onstage supporting a prosecutor and a teacher, there is no way that I would have believed you."

Harris' stepdaughter, niece and goddaughter highlighted how Harris has shaped their personal lives.

Ella Emhoff explained how Harris "never stopped listening to me."

"Like a lot of young people, I didn't always understand what I was feeling, but no matter what, Kamala was there for me,” she said. "She was patient, caring and always took me seriously."

Helena Hudlin, whose godmother is Harris, said Harris taught her that "making a difference means giving your whole heart and taking action." Hudlin's dad, Reginald Hudlin, introduced Harris to her husband.

Meena Harris said her aunt "showed me the meaning of service."

Harris' great-nieces joined Kerry Washington onstage to teach the audience how to pronounce the vice president's first name.

"It's come to my attention that there are some folks who struggle, or pretend to struggle, with the proper pronunciation of our future president's name," Washington said. "So hear me out. Confusion is understandable. Disrespect is not. So tonight, we are going to help everyone get it right."

Amara and Leela Ajagu, the daughters of Harris' niece Meena Harris, led a repetition of "Kama-la," which the crowd shouted back several times over.

Trump and his allies frequently mispronounce Harris' first name.

Kerry Washington kicked off the prime-time block with a rousing speech about civic participation.

"I am not here tonight as an actor," Washington told the packed crowd. "I am here as a mother, as a daughter, as a proud union member. I am here as the granddaughter of immigrants, as a Black woman descended from enslaved people. I am here tonight because I am an American and because I am a voter and because we the people are stronger when all our voices are heard."

Washington added that she was not "the lead character in this story," a reference to her tenure as "Scandal" protagonist Olivia Pope, saying the real power in the room rested with the Democratic delegates and the voters backing Harris.

The Chicks, one of the most popular female country acts of the past few decades, performed the national anthem tonight.

The group — Emily Strayer, Natalie Maines and Martie Maguire — went by The Dixie Chicks for the vast majority of their career but changed their name in the summer of 2020, saying, "We want to meet this moment." Around that time, they released a song titled "March March," which evoked protests like the Black Lives Matter movement.

In 2003, they sparked significant backlash in the more conservative country music scene when they criticized the U.S. invasion of Iraq under President George W. Bush.

The last night of the convention has brought out a large number of protesters.

While not quite as deep in numbers as the group's march Monday, when police said as many as 6,000 people showed up, tonight’s march of more than 3,500 has featured numerous enthusiastic bouts of cheering and instances of fresh rhyming chants — no small feat after four nights of demonstrations that have largely heard the same lyrics recited each night.

As night falls in Chicago, marchers still have three blocks to go before they return to Union Park. The march has so far gone off with minimal tensions and no clashes with police.

Five families shared the stage, each telling their own stories of hardship but also strength and perseverance.

Craig Sicknick spoke about his brother, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

"My family knows how dangerous Trump is," said Sicknick, who appeared onstage with his mother, Gayle. "He incited the crowd while my brother and his fellow officers were putting their lives at risk. We need a real leader, not an autocrat who was stuck in the past. Brian, we miss you every day."

Rep. Colin Allred of Texas is a rare Democratic Senate hopeful from a red state to address the convention, with the party's two most endangered senators steering clear of Chicago.

Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio hit the campaign trail this week, appearing yesterday with a Republican sheriff, and Sen. Jon Tester of Montana had a fundraiser yesterday with Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament, a native of his hometown. Tester is attending the band’s concert in Missoula, Montana, tonight. 

Allred represents a possible pickup opportunity for Senate Democrats as he takes on GOP Sen. Ted Cruz. Democrats are also eyeing Florida, where GOP Sen. Rick Scott is running for re-election. Scott's opponent, former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, has been in Florida this week with the state's primary on Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who said he has participated in every Democratic convention since 1984, said this year’s event has been the "most diverse" he has ever seen.

Schumer, D-N.Y., also described this year’s convention as one with more conviction and unity.

“We have to keep this going,” he said, adding that Harris will play a key role in doing that.

Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, the former NFL linebacker who is seeking to oust Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, slammed Trump as a "me guy" who cares only about himself — and "you don't want to be stuck with him at a barbecue."

"The truth is, America has never been about 'me.' As President Obama said, the single most powerful word in our democracy is the word 'we.' 'We shall overcome.' 'Yes, we can.' And we've got a message for the 'me' guys — 'we' is more powerful than 'me,'" Allred told the crowd.

Allred, 41, a civil rights attorney who once played for the Tennessee Titans, presents himself to voters as a bipartisan pragmatist. In campaign ads, he has highlighted his work with the GOP on veterans’ issues and trade with Mexico.

Shomari Figures, the Democratic nominee in Alabama's 2nd Congressional District, told attendees: "What we can do is ensure that the work of those fighters who came before us continues and that our sacred right to vote is always protected. Kamala Harris gets this. She's working to protect our freedoms every single day."

He also quoted rapper Kendrick Lamar, telling the arena: "A California poet named Kendrick Lamar recently reminded us that sometimes we got to 'pop out and show up.' Well, America, it's time we pop out and vote." 

A TikToker and a world-famous TV anchor walked into an elevator together at the Democratic National Convention — and Wolf Blitzer wasn’t the one who got recognized.

“Hey, I know you,” the woman operating the elevator said. Vitus Spehar, who goes by @UnderTheDeskNews on TikTok, looked to Blitzer, the CNN anchor, before realizing the woman was talking to them.

“I thought that was pretty great,” said Spehar, who has 3.1 million followers on TikTok. “I’ll be with an anchor or politician or something and people are like, ‘UnderTheDeskNews!’ I think that’s so fun.”

Read the full story here.

Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., the first Gen Z member of Congress, said he was here to tell everyone that the climate crisis isn't some "far-off threat."

"It is here. Donald Trump and JD Vance think they can divide us by saying this is some type of hoax, but I’ve walked the streets of communities that have been forced to rebuild after hurricane flooding destroyed their homes," Frost said.

He said that Harris and Biden have tackled the crisis and that fighting it is "patriotic."

"Unlike Donald Trump, our patriotism is more than some damn slogan on a hat. It’s about actually giving a damn about the people who live in this country," he said. "Because when you love somebody, you want them to have clean air. When you love somebody, you want them to have safe drinking water, and when you love somebody, you want them to have a dignified job. And so, America, it’s simple. Let’s get to work and elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for our planet."

Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry appeared via video wearing his Olympic gold medal and praised Harris, a fellow Californian.

"What a great honor it was represent Team USA and go out there and win that gold medal [at the] Olympics this summer," he said. "And that unity on and off the court reminded us all that together, we can do all things and continue to inspire the world."

"That's why I believe that Kamala as president could bring that unity back and continue to move our country forward," he said. "This is about preserving hope and belief in our country."

Police officers on bicycles have lined up on the sidewalk at the transit station at Damen Avenue, the site of a confrontation between a woman and police during yesterday's march.

During yesterday’s protest, a woman threw a water bottle at a police officer and unsuccessfully tried to flee into a waiting train car on the elevated tracks.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland blasted Trump, who she suggested had little regard for climate science or policies to protect the environment.

Haaland referred to her Native American heritage and her early memories of learning to care for the natural world as a child.

"While fishing with my dad and running through the desert with my cousins, I learned that we have a responsibility to take care of our planet," she said. "Donald Trump never learned that lesson."

Content creator John Russell, of Wheeling, West Virginia, spoke tonight in support of clean energy and criticized Trump over his record on the issue.

"Across the country, working-class people are looking for a political home after years of both parties putting profit above people," he said. "Now Trump, a billionaire, says that he'll take on the elites, but then he promises handouts to big oil. And he punches down at anyone with the guts to be different."

Harris is expected to say her path to the nomination was "no doubt unexpected. But I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys," according to pre-released excerpts of her speech tonight.

She also plans to speak with gratitude about her mother and the neighborhood where she grew up, which was a "beautiful working-class neighborhood of firefighters, nurses and construction workers, all who tended their lawns with pride."

Later in her remarks, she plans to echo the point, saying, “We know a strong middle class has always been critical to America’s success. And building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency. This is personal for me. The middle class is where I come from."

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, the state's first female and first LGBTQ governor, told the crowd that a Harris administration would advocate for vulnerable people across the country who have been exploited by "abusers and bullies."

Healey pointed to Harris' work as San Francisco district attorney when she fought for justice for the parents of children who had been murdered.

"Kamala Harris fights for all Americas. She stays on offense, and she wins," Healey said, later adding: "The contrast between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is clear. He obstructs justice. She upholds it. He swindles people. She serves them. He thinks he's above the law. She actually understands the law."

Healey was elected to the Massachusetts Governor's Mansion in 2022, defeating Republican Geoff Diehl, a state lawmaker. She was previously the state's attorney general.

Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman, the first Muslim and first Palestinian American woman elected to the Georgia Legislature, tonight read an emotional speech she would have delivered on the convention stage had she been invited.

Romann spoke at a news conference after the Uncommitted National Movement gave the Democratic National Committee a deadline of 7 p.m. ET to respond to its request to give a Palestinian American speaker five minutes of stage time at the convention tonight.

“The reality is that me, as a Palestinian elected official, I have had to walk a fine line between the grief that I have felt over my people being mass murdered and the fact that I understand the threats that exist in our society that are now looming ever larger,” Romann said.

Protesters have stopped near Park #578 — which is within sight and sound of the United Center — for several minutes to chant.

“We have nothing to lose, we have nothing to lose,” they yelled. After stopping for about five minutes, the protesters continued on their route.

A group of speakers spoke onstage about Harris' work as a prosecutor and said she fought for students, homeowners and people who have been sexually assaulted.

Amy Resner, a former prosecutor and friend of Harris', said that for Harris, "practicing law was always about protecting the vulnerable and giving the victims a voice, women who were sexually assaulted, children who were mistreated and sexually abused. She helped them navigate their nightmares and demand justice for their injuries."

California resident Courtney Baldwin shared a deeply personal story about being a survivor of sex trafficking in 2013.

As state attorney general, Harris helped take down a website on which Baldwin and other victims were bought and sold like merchandise.

"During those dark moments, I held on to hope that one day I'd be seen as more than a victim, that I could pursue my dreams and that my trafficker will be held to justice," she said. "I didn't know it yet, but waiting for me on the other side were people who were fighting for survivors. One of them was Kamala Harris."

"The Exonerated Five," also known as "the Central Park Five," highlighted how Trump once called for them to be put to death and has not apologized for his comments.

Yusef Salaam, who is now a member of the New York City Council, said Trump "never changed, and he never will."

"That man thinks that hate is the animating force in America," he said. "It is not."

The Rev. Al Sharpton addressed the convention tonight before he welcomed four members of the "Central Park Five" to the stage.

Sharpton, an MSNBC host, accused Trump of "fan[ning] racial flames" in 1989, when he spent thousands of dollars urging New York to execute five men convicted of raping a woman in Central Park. All five convictions were vacated in 2002, but in 2019 Trump maintained his earlier position.

After he attacked Trump, Sharpton praised Harris. "On the other side is a woman that I’ve walked with in Selma, Alabama, to commemorate the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Kamala Harris spoke to me that day about unity," he said.

Sharpton also referred to Trump's "Black jobs" comment at the June presidential debate, saying Trump "sat right here in Chicago a few weeks ago refusing to apologize for claims that migrants were taking Black jobs. Well, in November, we're going to show him when Blacks do their job."

Dozens of police officers in riot gear have lined up on each intersection of the march route that has a view of the United Center, the site of the convention’s official proceedings tonight.

Like previous march routes on Monday and Wednesday, demonstators are marching by Park #578, the so-called First Amendment zone that was the site of some protesters on Monday tearing down security fencing.

As the march walked by that park Thursday night, they remained in motion as they chanted, continuing along their route.

Dozens of police officers in riot gear had lined up near one of the entrances into the park.

So far, the only moment of tension occurred after a sole counterprotester waved a large American flag and jumped in front of the parade line.

For at least the fourth consecutive night, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling is on site for the day's major protest.

His continued presence underscores his direct and personal involvement in policing during the convention, where robust protests have occurred every day since Sunday.

The DJ at the convention just played Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off," stoking rumors that Swift could make a guest cameo.

Many people are speculating Swift could make a surprise appearance tonight.

Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., a veteran, recounted welcoming Harris at his alma mater, the U.S. Military Academy West Point, when she delivered the commencement address last year.

Leaning into his military background, Ryan drew a contrast between Harris and Trump, who he said had violated an honor code that he had learned as a cadet at West Point.

"There's a candidate who has violated every word in that code: a serial liar, cheater, thief," Ryan said.

Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., who is navigating his re-election in New York's competitive 18th Congressional District, landed a coveted speaking slot on the final night of the convention as he aims to keep his seat this fall.

Before his remarks in Chicago this evening, he said the shake-up at the top of the ticket had fired up his race.

"It’s hard to put into words how impactful the change at the top of the ticket has been in a positive way," Ryan told NBC News. "I mean, it’s just like pouring jet fuel into a jet engine and it taking off. I’ve not ever seen anything like it with a surge of volunteers, a surge of financial support, a surge of optimism and hope at a conversational level with folks."

In her remarks tonight, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., spoke about national security and what she said is at stake this election.

"Do not give an inch to pretenders who wrap themselves in the flag but spit in the face of freedoms it represents," she said.

Slotkin, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, said that the CIA recruited her after 9/11 and that she took part in three tours in Iraq alongside the military. She also worked at the White House for presidents of both parties.

"I want to talk tonight about national security, because the choice in November is stark: America retreating from the world or leading the world," she said. "Trump wants to take us backwards. He admires dictators a lot. He treats our friends as adversaries and our adversaries as friends. But our vision is based on our values, the values that took us to the shores of Normandy and helped us win the Cold War."

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, posted on X, joking that he's also not appearing at the DNC. Romney, a vocal critic of Trump, skipped the Republican convention and in December said he wouldn't rule out voting for Biden.

"Contrary to fake news posts, I am not the surprise guest at the DNC tonight," he wrote. "My guess is that it will be Beyoncé or Taylor Swift. So disappointing, I know!

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., who served in the Army from 2002 to 2006, said Project 2025 would be a national security disaster for the country.

The policies outlined in the book would "abandon our veterans, our allies and our principles," he told the convention. In chapter four, Crow said, "Trump plans to do Putin's bidding" by walking away from NATO, slashing the budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs and firing national security and military professionals.

"As a paratrooper, we learned that the leader of the unit jumps first and then the others follow," Crow said. "Leaders always go first, but Trump, Trump, he would push your son or daughter out of the plane and then abandon them when they come home."

Several Democrats tonight have made digs at Vance, joking about a false rumor involving Vance, a sex act and a couch.

"Trust Donald Trump and JD Vance to look out for your family? Shoot, I wouldn't let those guys, I wouldn't trust them to move my couch," said Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as the audience roared.

Minutes later, Colorado Rep. Jason Crow talked about his military service, saying his missions taught him what "really makes America strong and secure."

"It's not tough talk, it's not chest thumping," he said. "Because in war, talk is cheap. And trust me, I know a couch commando when I see one."

Tonight’s Coalition to March on the DNC protest has officially begun marching. Approximately 3,500 are in attendance, loudly chanting pro-Palestine slogans as they leave Union Park.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Harris will take on Trump.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wiped away tears as the crowd inside the United Center gave her a sustained standing ovation and round of applause.

Warren, one of the most high-profile progressive lawmakers in the Senate, then launched into a feisty takedown of Trump, presenting the GOP nominee as a foe of everyday Americans struggling to pay the bills. She touted Harris' plans to "make life more affordable for working people."

"She'll take on Wall Street firms that buy up millions of houses and apartments, and then jack up the rent. She'll take on drug companies that charge an arm and a leg for prescriptions. She'll take on corporate monopolies that rip off consumers and billionaires who don't pay taxes," Warren said.

The thunderous applause for Warren, who ran for president in 2020, reflects her stature in the modern Democratic Party. She has advocated for many of the populist ideas that have become key planks of the party's agenda, including family policy.

Approximately 3,500 people have already gathered around Union Park for the final major organized march of the week.

That level is still below organizers’ prediction of 5,000-10,000 attendees — but above what many participants had expected tonight and similar to the group’s attendance at its Monday march.

Today’s pre-march rally showcased a circus-like vibe, with many different spectacles to behold, depending on which way you were looking.

There was a main stage with speakers, which the bulk of the audience was focused on. But in various corners of the park, there were drum circles, people smoking cannabis and splinter groups — from both the political left and the right — holding their own smaller protests.

There are mobile ice cream and popcorn vendors, some with long lines, and an army of selfie-wielding streamers, who all appear at first glance to just be rambling to themselves. Many are sporting N95 masks even though it’s an open-air outdoor event.

Moments ago, a bus with a red-white-and-blue painting of presidential candidate Robert Kennedy emblazoned on it pulled up, prompting a cavalry of people to run over for a T-shirt toss carried out by two happy bearded men.

The march is slated to begin in the next 15 minutes.

Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, who is up for re-election this year, entered to chants of "Bob, Bob, Bob," before discussing the cost of everyday goods for consumers.

Casey argued that prices are up because corporations are "scheming to drive them up."

"This is greedflation," he said, adding that he and Harris have been "fighting it."

Leonardo Williams, the first-term mayor of Durham, North Carolina, touted the Biden-Harris administration's support for small businesses — such as the chain of Zimbabwean restaurants he opened with his wife.

"Kamala Harris is fighting to create an opportunity economy that can break down barriers for entrepreneurs like us, and as president, she will support risk-takers and problem solvers who want to just do their part and claim their piece of the American dream," Williams told the crowd.

Williams recalled that, in order to open his first restaurant, "we emptied our savings account." In an apparent dig at Trump's upbringing, Williams added: "I guess not everybody can have a multimillion-dollar loan from their father."

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi took the stage to talk about his work in Congress to combat China, telling attendees, "They know the only way they'll beat America is if we beat ourselves."

He claimed that leaders in China "want to see Donald Trump across the bargaining table, because he'll start endless trade wars that raise prices for Americans, because he'll cut programs that train workers in America. But most of all, Trump will pit American against American, and that's what China wants."

Jack Schlossberg, the 31-year-old grandson of President John F. Kennedy, is in Chicago this week hoping to fire up young voters for Harris and Walz. Attending the Democratic National Convention as a first-time delegate from New York and political correspondent for Vogue, he tells us how his own enthusiasm for Harris’ campaign has been growing. 

“Like all Americans, I’ve gotten to know Kamala Harris over the course of her career as a prosecutor, as a senator and a vice president, and now presidential candidate. And you know, the more I see, the more I fall in love with her,” Schlossberg, who supported Biden’s re-election before he dropped out of the race, told NBC’s Peter Alexander in an interview yesterday. “She is going to be a fantastic president, and I’m so, so unbelievably excited about her campaign.” 

House Minority Whip Katherine Clark used her convention remarks to talk about child care costs, something she said she experienced first hand as a mother of three.

The Massachusetts Democrat also criticized Vance and Project 2025 over child care funding.

"JD Vance says affordable child care is class war against normal people. You know what normal people want? A president who understands this shouldn't be so damn hard," Clark said.

Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., touted Harris' efforts to make college more affordable, including as California's attorney general, when she secured a $1 billion settlement for students who were defrauded by a for-profit college.

As vice president, she helped expand Pell grants and secure record funding for historically Black colleges and universities, he added.

"As president, she will build a brighter future, a more affordable future, a future where going to college doesn't break the bank," Neguse said.

Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin talked about Social Security in personal terms invoking her grandparents, who raised her.

"As they grew older, it was my privilege to be there for them," Baldwin said, adding that when she's worked to protect Medicare and Social Security, she's done so with "personal knowledge" of what those programs meant to her grandparents.

"Let's be clear, that's all at risk today," she said, criticizing Trump's agenda.

Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., took the stage and told attendees about his first time meeting Harris, when she was California attorney general and he was a state lawmaker.

"I first got to know Kamala Harris during the Great Recession ... millions of hard working families were facing foreclosure. My constituents told me stories about predatory and unfair loan terms and about how hard they were fighting to keep the homes that they loved," Lieu said. "Thankfully, they had someone fighting just as hard for them, Attorney General Kamala Harris."

"Since those days, I’ve seen her continue to fight for affordable housing," Lieu said. "It shouldn't be this hard in America, and President Kamala Harris will make sure it's not."

Puerto Rican delegates at the Democratic and Republican national conventions backed their respective presidential nominees, Harris and Trump — even though both parties changed their official platforms on Puerto Rico, not aligning with some delegates’ views on statehood or the future of Puerto Rico.

The platform approved at the Democratic convention in Chicago this week states the party’s explicit support for a bipartisan bill that seeks to change Puerto Rico’s territorial relationship to the U.S. through a federally binding vote — leaving out Puerto Rico’s current territorial option.

Under the terms of the bill, known as the Puerto Rico Status Act, Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. territory would choose among three nonterritorial status options: statehood, independence and sovereignty in free association with the U.S.

Read the full story here.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge praised Harris' record on housing policy and lauded her plans to tackle the affordability crisis.

"She will build 3 million new homes and rentals, limit unfair rent increases and offer down payment support for first-time home buyers," Fudge told the crowd.

Fudge said Harris has "fought to protect homeowners and renters her entire career," including when, as California attorney general, "she held big banks accountable for their role in the foreclosure crisis and won millions of dollars for California homeowners."

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., dipped into two languages for his address, speaking in both English and Spanish about how he and Harris, whom he replaced in the Senate after she ascended to the vice presidency, have achieved the American dream and how she will work to do the same for generations to come.

"Every fight that Kamala and I have taken on together has been about making life better for this generation and the next," he said.

"It's the American dream, after all, that brought my parents to the United States decades ago," Padilla went on, repeating himself in Spanish. "But today, we know that the dream is out of reach for far too many families."

National Education Association President Becky Pringle tonight kept with a major theme of this week's Democratic convention: pinning Project 2025 on Trump and Vance.

In doing so, Pringle said a Trump victory would bring an end to the Education Department.

"Donald Trump and JD Vance are not just wrong, they're dangerous. It's all right there in Project 2025; they will shut down the Department of Education," Pringle said.

The crowd at the Coalition to March on the DNC protest is slated to march in less than an hour — an event that will cap a week of protests outside the DNC.

About 2,000 people have gathered at Union Park to participate in a rally ahead of the march that has featured more than a dozen speakers.

One — Nicholas Richards, representing a group called Black Lives for Peace — said to the crowd that “we’re not surprised by this genocide.”

“The only way to defeat it,” he added, “is through organized struggle.” The line prompted applause from the crowd.

Ken Martin, the chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, says he expects the Uncommitted delegates to do “something,” alluding to a possible disruption during tonight's remarks.

Uncommitted delegates sought to have a Palestinian speaker address the convention, but their request was denied.

Minnesota has a plurality of the Uncommitted delegates — 11 out of 30 total. Those 30 Uncommitted delegates represent a small fraction of the nearly 4,700 delegates gathered in the United Center.

All delegates sign a code of conduct every morning allowing organizers to strip credentials of anyone who breaks it.

Amid ongoing controversy over whether a Palestinian American would take the stage, an imam from Philadelphia helped lead tonight's opening invocation.

"Oh, God help us stand with with humanity against hate. Oh, God bless us to approach each day with a feeling of gratitude and remembrance of you," said Muhammad Abdul-Aleem of Philadelphia, which is home to one of the largest Black Muslim populations in the country.

"And finally, bless America to cherish our freedom and noble essence," he concluded.

Uncommitted delegates who have been staging a sit-in outside the front doors of the United Center are asking for the Democratic National Committee to give five minutes of stage time to at least one Palestinian American speaker this evening — and they want an answer by 7 p.m. ET.

“Gaza is watching and seeing that this party that we hold dear to our hearts, that we know holds human rights dear, is not even letting my Palestinian siblings speak,” said Asma Mohammed, a delegate from Minnesota who says she slept on the cold, painful concrete outside the convention venue in order to elevate their message of asking for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and to cut U.S. funding for weapons sent to Israel.

More than a dozen elected officials, as well as the United Auto Workers union, have expressed support for the group’s cause.

Trump appeared to acknowledge his electoral loss to Biden in 2020, saying today he "didn't quite make it" and fell "just a little bit short."

Trump made the comment during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Cochise County, Arizona, as he was discussing a chart that he said featured figures on illegal immigration.

Pointing at the chart, he said, "This was the last week in office for me because of a horrible, horrible election. Where I got many millions more votes than I got the first time, but didn’t quite make it. Just a little bit short."

“We got to clean up our borders. We have to clean up our elections, and we’re not going to have a country,” Trump added.

Biden obtained 51.3% of the vote in 2020, while Trump won 46.8%, according to an NBC News tally.

A goal of every presidential campaign is to get voters to size up the opponent and, repulsed, decide, “No way.”

President Joe Biden’s approach was to persuade the electorate that Trump is a national menace. Harris is instead casting Trump as Dennis the Menace.

Read the full story here.

Trump today said the cost to deport millions of undocumented immigrants is justified and would not rule out separating families made up of citizens and noncitizens.

“It’ll cost trillions of dollars to keep these people, and I’m talking about in particular starting with the criminals,” Trump told NBC News in an interview during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. “That’s costing us a lot more than deporting. But we have no choice, regardless, we have no choice, we’re going to have to deport.”

Read the full story here.

The Arkansas Supreme Court blocked an abortion rights initiative from appearing on the state’s ballot this fall, upholding a July decision by the secretary of state to reject the measure for not following rules related to paid signature gatherers.

The decision means Arkansas will not be among the handful of states where voters will have the chance to weigh in on abortion-related measures on the November ballot, as the court’s majority opinion denies “further relief” to the group behind the proposed constitutional amendment.

Read the full story here.

A record number of sitting Democratic governors — 11 — are speaking at this year's party convention, according to the Democratic Governors Association.

The high number "highlights the increasing role and voice they have within the party and country," Sam Newton, a spokesperson for the association, told NBC News.

That figure includes Walz, who accepted the Democratic Party's nomination to be Harris' running mate last night.

In 2020, five sitting governors spoke at the Democratic convention, and in 2016, four spoke at the convention.

The Harris campaign started a channel on Twitch, the popular video livestreaming platform used by video gamers.

Seth Schuster, a campaign spokesperson, said the Twitch channel would feature Harris' address tonight.

"The VP’s address tonight will be one of the biggest moments of the entire campaign thus far — and we’re making sure we’re bringing her live to voters wherever they may be, Twitch included," Schuster said in a statement. "Our job as the campaign is to break through a historically personalized media landscape, taking the VP and her vision for the future directly to the hardest to reach voters and those who will decide this election."

Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy showed up in Union Park moments ago, saying that he came to hear and engage with protesters about their political views.

“Even though we don’t agree, I still want to hear,” he said.

His briefly toured the grounds, but his presence quickly created tensions.

March organizer Hatem Abudayyeh confronted Ramaswamy moments after his arrival, asking him, “Are you a supporter of the genocide?”

“I don’t play these kind of games,” Ramaswamy responded, prompting Abudayyeh to retort: “You have no right to be here if you’re not in support of the Palestinian people.”

Trump attacked Harris by asserting she is a "Marxist" multiple times during his campaign stop in Arizona near the U.S.-Mexico border today.

During a press conference with media, Trump referred to his political opponent as a "radical-left Marxist."

Later, in an interview with NBC News after the conference, Trump said: "I don't believe that the world is ready, that this country is ready to put a person like that — a Marxist. I mean, her father's a Marxist, and she's a Marxist."

Harris' father has written about Marxist economics in his role as an economics professor.

Asked whether he would accept an endorsement from independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump told NBC News today that he "would love to have his endorsement."

"That would be great honor," Trump said in an interview, while also seeming to brush off the idea of giving Kennedy an administration post if he wins a second term.

“It doesn’t mean administration, but certainly having his endorsement — there’s things that he agrees on that I also agree on,” Trump said.

Kennedy is considering dropping out of the 2024 race and endorsing Trump.

The third night of the Democratic convention drew an estimated 20.2 million viewers, holding steady from Tuesday night's viewership numbers, according to Nielsen.

Numbers for viewers tonight, when Harris accepts the party's nomination for president, will be closely watched to see how they stack up against the Republican National Convention. An estimated 25 million viewers watched the RNC on the night Trump gave his nomination acceptance speech.

Organizers for tonight’s Coalition to March on the DNC protest just finished a brief news conference at Union Park, where they rejected suggestions that their robust protest efforts this week advantaged Republicans, whose convention last month featured barely any protests at all.

“We aren’t supporters of Donald Trump,” said the group's main organizer, Hatem Abudayyeh, who called Trump “the biggest pig in the history” of U.S. politics.

“Democrats are in power,” he said. “That’s why our mobilization is how it is.”

He reiterated that his coalition does “not support any political violence” and that his group has worked hard to make sure tonight’s march is peaceful. 

During the group’s march on Monday afternoon, a smaller breakaway group of protesters tore down security fencing at Park #578, resulting in the arrival of police in riot gear and multiple arrests.

As of 4:00 p.m. local time, few protesters have arrived for the march, which will kick off around 6:30 p.m. local time.

A small handful of counterprotesters, however, have. One repeatedly screamed “America first” on a megaphone while Abudayyeh spoke at his news conference 50 feet away.

The Supreme Court today partly granted a request from the Republican National Committee to make Arizona enforce measures requiring people to show proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote.

In what is likely to be one of many election-related disputes to come before the court ahead of the November election, the justices allowed for one of three provisions of the state law to be enforced.

Read the full story here.

Biden joined in February, then Trump in June. Harris signed up in July, followed by Vance and Walz. On Wednesday, Pete Buttigieg joined them. 

Politicians are continuing to flock to TikTok, as Republicans and Democrats jockey for the attention of younger voters in what appears for now to be a tight election. Buttigieg launched his account just hours before he spoke at the Democratic National Convention. The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor describes himself in his bio as “dad, husband, veteran, public servant, Midwestern.”  

“You might recognize me from Fox News,” he joked in his first video, which broke 1 million views in six hours. “Now, I’m on TikTok, obviously.”

Read the full story here.

Vance said he spoke “very briefly” with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, as Trump continues to publicly show no interest in repairing his relationship with the the leader of a key battleground state.

Vance made the remark during his second visit to the state as Trump’s running mate at a law enforcement-focused event at the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department.

“I read the headlines. Brian Kemp and Donald Trump have had some disagreements,” Vance said, while assuring that the Georgia governor is “100%” behind the Trump-Vance ticket.

“He wants us to win because he believes the policies of Kamala Harris are disastrous for this country, and he’s exactly right about that. So, I’m glad to have the governor’s support," Vance added.

Uncommitted delegates have been staging a sit-in outside the Democratic National Convention hall after being informed last night that a Palestinian American would not get be given a speaking slot in the event.

In response, a number of progressive lawmakers and officials, as well the United Auto Workers, have called on the Harris campaign and DNC officials to reverse the decision.

Several progressive lawmakers have issued public statements of support for a Palestinian speaker on the final night of the convention, including Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.;  Summer Lee, D-Pa.; Delia Ramirez, D-Ill.; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Greg Casar, D-Tex.; Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; and Maxwell Frost, D-Fla.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also endorsed the idea today, as did Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison — who was the first Muslim elected to Congress before running for his current job — and actors and activists Mandy Patinkin and Mark Ruffalo.

Harris joined the popular social media music show “Track Star,” a video released today shows.

The video, which appears to have been taped Monday based on her outfit, comes as her campaign has become increasingly engaged with online content creators, including featuring them onstage at the DNC.

The game consists of guests guessing musical artists based on songs, and Harris got them all correct, including Stevie Wonder — whom she called a "friend" — Miles Davis and Too Short.

Asked to name a song that everybody should know, Harris said one of her all-time favorites is Roy Ayers’ “Everybody Loves the Sunshine.”

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., is looking to capitalize on his turn in the convention spotlight Thursday night. His Senate campaign sent out a fundraising pitch Thursday afternoon with the subject line, "Before Ruben speaks tonight…"

The pitch implores supporters to help the campaign reach a goal of raising $250,000 by midnight, warning that Gallego's GOP opponent, Kari Lake, is likely seeing a boost in fundraising herself as a response to the Democratic gathering.

Gallego is one of several Senate candidates set to take the stage Thursday night. He also appeared at a Harris campaign rally in Arizona earlier this month.

It's a big night for Harris in more ways than one: The vice president is celebrating her 10th wedding anniversary.

Harris and husband Doug Emhoff marked the occasion on social media, with Harris writing, "Happy anniversary, Dougie. I wouldn’t want to be on this journey with anyone but you."

Emhoff's post included a photo montage of the couple through the years. "Ten years of marriage, forever to go," the post said. "Happy anniversary, honey."

As his fellow Democrats gathered for their national convention, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio campaigned here Wednesday alongside a Republican sheriff. 

“There’s a lot more voters in Toledo than there are in Chicago,” Brown told reporters after an event designed in part to promote his endorsement from Mark Wasylyshyn, the top law enforcement officer in nearby Wood County. 

Brown is among a handful of vulnerable Democratic senators who are skipping this week’s convention. They prefer to keep a distance, literally and figuratively, projecting independence from their party as they navigate tricky re-election paths back home, where Republicans are eager to tie them to an unpopular president. 

Vance continued his attacks on the vice president's handling of the border crisis during an event in southern Georgia.

"The reason why we have an open border is because Kamala Harris undid the policies of Donald J. Trump," Vance said while speaking at an event on border security in Valdosta.

Despite his mischaracterizations of Harris' role in border security and of the border being open, Democrats are aware their border strategy earlier in Biden's term is a political weakness and sought to combat it at the convention Wednesday, where multiple speakers ripped Trump for torpedoing a bipartisan border security package.

Vance maintained the bill "had nothing to do with border security. It had to do with codifying a lot of the executive orders of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden that actually further open the southern border."

Yesterday's protests at the Democratic convention ended with no arrests or injuries, law enforcement officials said — a sharp contrast with Tuesday night, when clashes between protesters and police near the Israeli Consulate resulted in nearly 60 arrests.

“It shows that when you have some type of contact and collaboration with those who are organizing, that you can have a peaceful First Amendment gathering,” said Larry Snelling, the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.

Snelling said “opportunity and preparation is everything” for the Chicago Police Department.

“We had the opportunity to respond to the Democratic National Convention, and we were prepared for it, and that preparation came through training, and our officers just worked with a level of pride that was just unbelievable,” he said.

NEW YORK — New York state lawyers urged an appeals court late Wednesday to uphold Donald Trump’s nearly $500 million civil fraud judgment, arguing there’s “overwhelming evidence” to support a judge’s finding that the former president lied for years about his wealth as he built his real estate empire.

In paperwork filed ahead of oral arguments next month, New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office said the current Republican nominee’s appeal is awash in “meritless legal arguments” and ignores volumes of trial evidence showing that he and his co-defendants engaged in “fraud and illegality on an immense scale.”

“On appeal, defendants tellingly ignore almost all their deceptions,” Assistant Solicitor General Daniel S. Magy wrote in a 168-page submission to the state’s mid-level appeals court known as the Appellate Division.

Trump, his company and top executives including his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. “created and used financial statements rife with blatant misrepresentations and omissions to maintain loans worth more than half a billion dollars and to generate over $360 million in ill-gotten profits,” Magy wrote.

The Appellate Division said Wednesday that it will hear the case on Sept. 26, about six weeks before Election Day and just after the start of early voting in some states. The court typically rules about a month after arguments, meaning a decision could come before the presidential race ends.

Read the full story here.

Walz posted a video on X of him greeting members of his former football team backstage at the Democratic convention, where he delivered his acceptance speech last night.

At the start of the video, Walz throws his hands up as he walks over to hug the players and thank them for being there. 

Walz was described by former students as an influential teacher and assistant football coach at Mankato West High School, where he served as a defensive coordinator for the team.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she has hopes that she can maintain a relationship with Biden after she played a key role in pushing the president to drop out of the race after his poor June debate performance.

“Well, I hope so,” Pelosi said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” when asked whether she has any plans to speak with Biden.

“But again, that was then. This is now,” she added. “We have to go forward and use all of our energy not reviewing the past, but going forward to win this election.”

The former House speaker said she expects Harris “will be wonderful” during her speech at the DNC tonight “because she has so much confidence; she will be herself.”

The White House is blasting Trump for calling Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro a "highly overrated Jewish governor" in a social media post overnight.

"It is Antisemitic, dangerous, and hurtful to attack a fellow American by calling out their Jewish faith in a derogatory way," White House spokesman Herbie Ziskend said in a statement.  

Trump launched the broadside after Shapiro spoke at the convention last night and described the former president as a threat to freedom.

“The highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, made a really bad and poorly delivered speech talking about freedom and fighting for Comrade Kamala Harris for President," Trump's post said. "Yet Shapiro, for strictly political reasons, refused to acknowledge that I am the best friend that Israel, and the Jewish people, ever had."