The Democratic National Convention (DNC) gets underway on Monday with some political heavyweights slated to headline the four-day affair.
While the DNC is the presidential nominating convention, Vice President Kamala Harris – and her running mate Tim Walz – are already officially on the Democratic ticket after a five-day round of online voting from delegates on August 5.
The historic virtual roll call results marked Harris becoming the first Black and Asian-American to become presidential nominee for a major political party – garnering 99 per cent support from more than 4,500 delegates.
Delegates will ceremonially cast their votes for Harris at the United Center in the Democratic stronghold of Chicago, Illinois, as Harris affirms her choice of choosing Walz as her VP pick.
Democratic delegates from all 50 states and US territories will attend the Steven Spielberg-coordinated convention between Monday and Thursday next week.
More than 50,000 visitors are expected to descend on the invite-only event, including 5,000 delegates, 15,000 members of the media, and tens of thousands of guests.
A formal speaking schedule has yet to be released, but The Independent has rounded up who’s tipped to take the podium and, where possible, when.
Joe Biden
Just a few weeks ago, Joe Biden was expected to take to the stage and deliver a headline speech.
However, last month, as pressure from senior Democrats mounted, the president abandoned his re-election campaign and passed on the baton to Harris
Despite not being the party’s presidential candidate, Biden will still be speaking, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed at a briefing on Monday.
The message, she says, will be one of unity.
“He will certainly speak at the DNC convention, and I think there’ll be a lot of excitement. I think folks are going to be, again, excited to see the president next week,” she said.
“He’s looking forward to, as he tends to do, speak directly to the American people, talk about the moment that we’re at, what’s at stake, and continue to talk about an issue that is incredibly important to him, which is unity.”
As the showcase speaker, Biden is expected to take to the stage on August 19.
Hillary & Bill Clinton
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is slated to speak on Monday while her husband, former president Bill Clinton, is due to take the stage ahead of the Minnesota governor on Thursday.
The Clintons publicly endorsed Harris’s presidential run on July 21, the day of Biden’s withdrawal, and said they’d do “whatever we can to support” the vice president.
Hillary, who became the first woman in history to win a presidential nomination in a major political party in 2016, admitted that she “couldn’t break that highest, hardest glass ceiling.”
However, “with Ms Harris at the top of the ticket leading the way, this movement may become an unstoppable wave,” she wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times.
Barack Obama
A day later on August 22, the former president – and the US’ first Black incumbent – is set to deliver his speech, three sources told The New York Times.
Obama and his wife, the former first lady Michelle, first endorsed Harris four days after Biden’s departure on July 26 – with a viral phone call of the moment between the couple and Harris being posted by Harris’ campaign team on X.
The Obamas said she possesses the “strength that this critical moment demands.”
It will mark the former president’s third consecutive DNC speech after a virtual address at the 2020 convention as the Covid-19 pandemic swept the globe.
Tim Walz
As is tradition, Harris’s running mate is due to take to the podium on day three – August 21.
Walz, like Harris, will ceremonially accept his place on the Democratic ticket after formally being nominated last Tuesday.
His DNC speech will come just two weeks after being selected as Harris’s running mate and making his first public speech at a Philadelphia rally.
Jason Carter
Former president Jimmy Carter’s grandson is expected to speak on the former president’s behalf, a source close to the family confirmed to NBC News.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner served as America’s 39th president between 1977 and 1981.
The 99-year-old has been admitted to a series of short hospital stays, former and has “decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention,” the Carter Center said in a recent statement.
Doug Emhoff
Harris’s husband is expected to take the stage towards the back end of the convention.
Alongside supporting his wife, second husband Emhoff is expected to highlight the possibility of becoming the first ever first husband.
Kamala Harris
Following tradition, Harris will wrap up on day four of the convention on August 22. She will ceremonially accept her nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate.
It marks four years from when Harris accepted the vice president nomination under Biden.
