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US election: when is the Democratic convention and why does it matter?
Kamala Harris is set to appear in Chicago next week to formally accept the nomination for president of the Democratic party, less than two months after Joe Biden dropped out of the race. She will appear alongside her running mate, Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, at the party’s national convention.
Typically a party formally nominates their candidate at the convention – as the Republicans did for Donald Trump in July – however, Democrats changed the rules to put in place a virtual roll call. Harris and Walz were officially nominated earlier in August.
Here’s what else to know about next week’s Democratic convention.
Where and when is the Democratic national convention?
The Democratic national convention will be held in Chicago from 19 to 22 August.
Chicago previously played host to the convention in 1996, when Bill Clinton was nominated for re-election, and 1968 when Hubert Humphrey was nominated.
Two venues in Chicago will host the convention: the United Center arena for evening programming, and McCormick Place convention center for daytime sessions.
Who is speaking at the convention?
Harris and Walz will both speak at the convention, and Biden is also expected to give an address. The full lineup of speakers has not yet been released (Republicans only released the names of confirmed speakers the day of their July convention).
However, several big names have been reported:
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Monday, 19 August: Biden will speak on the opening night, along with former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
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Tuesday, 20 August: Former president Barack Obama will give an address on the second night.
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Wednesday, 21 August: Former president Bill Clinton will join Walz on the convention’s third night.
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Thursday, 22 August: Harris will close out the fourth night of the convention.
In 2020, the virtual convention included speeches from Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jill Biden and a host of other elected officials.
How can I watch the convention?
The party will livestream the convention on its Democratic national convention website and on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
The Guardian has a team of reporters in Chicago and will be covering the convention in depth, including live blogs each night.
Major news networks are likely to carry prime-time programming. PBS will have live coverage beginning at 8pm each night.
What happens at the Democratic convention?
The primary functions of the convention is to formally nominate the party’s candidate, adopt the party’s platform, unify the party and boost enthusiasm for the ticket.
The convention usually includes a roll call to formally nominate their candidate. However, the rule-making group for the Democratic National Committee established procedures for candidates to contest the primary nomination ahead of the convention.
Harris was confirmed as the party’s nominee after a virtual roll call vote earlier in August – the first time Democrats have used such a process. Harris and Walz will formally accept the nomination at the convention.
The rest of the week will focus on the party’s platform and speeches from notable figures. The party says that more than 5,000 delegates and alternates will be at the convention, with 50,000 total visitors in Chicago for the convention (which includes delegates and the media).
Who else is speaking?
The party has signaled its plans to foreground up-and-coming Democrats in its programming. Likely speakers include the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, Maryland governor, Wes Moore, and Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, among others.
Meanwhile, many political influencers have been credentialed, including the socialist podcast host Daniel Denvir.
Will there be protests?
Yes. Organizers expect tens of thousands of people to protest outside the Democratic national convention to pressure the party to stop the war in Gaza. Inside the convention, uncommitted delegates plan to push anti-war demands in hopes of winning more allies to the cause and influencing the party platform.
Chicago is home to the country’s largest Palestinian population – with Bridgeview, Illinois, known as Little Palestine. More than 200 groups have joined together for the March on the DNC, with protests planned for the opening and closing nights of the convention.
Protests are not unique to the Democratic convention; during the Republican convention in July, protesters led a demonstration against Trump and his party in downtown Milwaukee.
What’s ahead on the US election calendar?
The next presidential debate is scheduled for 10 September, with both Harris and Trump confirmed.
A debate between JD Vance and Walz has been confirmed for 1 October.
In a year, the president has altered 10 spaces in the White House.
For generations, each American president has left his stamp on the White House. But in just a year of his second term, President Trump has overseen a collection of changes that is unprecedented in scale, speed and cost.
Some changes are cosmetic, while others are structural. As with his executive style, he has broken long-held norms in his makeover of the “People’s House.” Critics have questioned Mr. Trump’s demolition of the East Wing before gaining approvals, and the administration is under legal pressure over plans to build a ballroom in its place.
It is difficult to know the full price tag of the renovations, but they come at a time when cost of living and inflation are top of mind for many Americans. Mr. Trump has said that he is personally paying for some projects, and that he and his donors would foot the bill for the $400 million ballroom.
Here are the 10 areas he transformed.
Mr. Trump is not done yet.
In an interview with The Times this month, he said that designs were being drawn up for a second level on top of the West Colonnade. Called the “Upper West Wing,” it would hold offices for West Wing aides and “future first ladies.”
Photo credits
Cover: Doug Mills/The New York Times
Cabinet Room: Drew Angerer/The New York Times and Doug Mills/The New York Times
Oval Office: Dirck Halstead/Getty Images, Eric Draper/The White House, via National Archives, Doug Mills/The New York Times and Bruce White, via White House Historical Association
Oval Office study: David Valdez/The White House, via National Archives, Pete Souza/The White House and Doug Mills/The New York Times
West Colonnade: Doug Mills/The New York Times and Elizabeth Frantz for The New York Times
Rose Garden: Doug Mills/The New York Times and Todd Heisler/The New York Times
Palm Room: Jack E. Boucher/Historic American Buildings Survey, via Library of Congress and Doug Mills/The New York Times
Flagpoles: Doug Mills/The New York Times
Lincoln Bathroom: Andrea Hanks/The White House and Doug Mills/The New York Times
Entrance Hall: Doug Mills/The New York Times and Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
East Wing Ballroom: Detroit Publishing Co., via Library of Congress, Kevin Carter/Getty Images, Doug Mills/The New York Times, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images and Bettmann Archive, via Getty Images
Donald Trump has said UK soldiers who fought in Afghanistan were “among the greatest of all warriors” after previously drawing criticism for his claims that Nato troops stayed away from the frontlines during the conflict.
In a post on social media on Saturday, the US president said: “The great and very brave soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America.
“In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors.
“It’s a bond too strong to ever be broken. The UK military, with tremendous heart and soul, is second to none (except for the USA). We love you all, and always will!”
The post came a day after Trump was criticised for his remarks that Nato allied troops “stayed a little off the frontlines” in Afghanistan.
Keir Starmer raised the comments directly with the US president in a conversation on Saturday, No 10 said.
A Downing Street spokesperson said:
“The prime minister spoke to the president of the United States, Donald Trump, this afternoon.
“The prime minister raised the brave and heroic British and American soldiers who fought side by side in Afghanistan, many of whom never returned home. We must never forget their sacrifice, he said.
“As Ukraine approaches the fourth year of war since Russia’s full-scale invasion, the leaders agreed on the need to see progress towards a sustainable ceasefire.
“Whilst diplomatic efforts continue, the prime minister reiterated that international partners must continue to support Ukraine in its defence against Putin’s barbaric attacks.
“The leaders also discussed the need for bolstered security in the Arctic, and the prime minister said it was an absolute priority for his government.
“The leaders discussed the importance of the UK-US relationship, which continues to stand the test of time.
“They agreed to speak soon.”
News
Videos From Minnesota Show How Aggressive ICE Has Gotten During Arrests and Encounters With Protesters
Federal immigration agents have broken windows and dragged occupants out of their vehicles. They have forcefully tackled people to the ground. They have pushed and shoved protesters, and deployed pepper spray directly in their faces.
For weeks, residents have documented the scenes unfolding as federal agents pursue President Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota. The videos have circulated widely and intensified outrage and fear among many Minnesotans.
Marty Kurcias, 76, who was protesting at the airport on Friday, said the aggressive treatment he has seen of Minnesotans was jarring. “It can’t go on like this,” he said, adding, “We don’t abide by cruelty or violence.”
Trump administration officials have defended the tactics as necessary in the face of widespread protests. But the heavy-handed use of force has drawn mounting scrutiny.
The New York Times reviewed dozens of videos taken in recent weeks and identified multiple aggressive tactics that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents used during immigration arrests and in encounters with protesters.
Officers forcibly entered homes without a judge’s warrant.
On Sunday, federal agents were seen dragging a man from his home in St. Paul. The man was later identified as ChongLy Scott Thao, a Hmong immigrant and naturalized U.S. citizen with no criminal record, according to his family. Mr. Thao and his family said that the armed agents did not present a warrant or allow him to show identification at the time of arrest.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Mr. Thao refused to be fingerprinted or facially identified and that he had matched the description of two sex offenders they were seeking.
An internal memo, leaked by a whistle-blower group, showed that ICE officials had drafted guidance saying that their officers could enter homes without a judicial warrant and that they could rely instead on administrative warrants that are issued by a government agency and do not go through the federal court system.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the department, acknowledged that officers had relied on administrative warrants to enter homes to conduct arrests.
John Sandweg, who served as an acting director of ICE under President Barack Obama, said the practice of entering homes without a judicial warrant would be a significant departure from decades-old ICE policies and procedures.
They interrogated people because of their ethnicity or accents.
Administration officials have repeatedly said that the operations in Minnesota have targeted violent criminals and people who pose a serious threat to the community. But immigration agents have confronted and interrogated people because of what they assumed their race or ethnicity to be.
A video posted on social media and additional footage provided to The New York Times show one man, Ramon Menera, questioned by immigration agents who told him they were asking for documentation because of his accent.
Mr. Menera told The Times that he is a U.S. citizen and that the agents released him after he provided them with his passport card.
In July, a federal judge prohibited immigration agents in the Los Angeles area from targeting people based on assumptions about their race or ethnicity, but the Supreme Court lifted the order in September.
They broke windows and dragged occupants from their cars.
Immigration agents are taking sharp measures to detain and arrest people. That includes people who do not appear to be a danger to the community and in some cases people who are not the targets of immigration enforcement operations at all.
A widely shared video taken in Minneapolis shows immigration agents dragging a woman, later identified as Aliya Rahman, from her car, after one agent shattered the window on the passenger side.
The Homeland Security department later said that the woman was an “agitator” who ignored multiple commands to move her vehicle away from the scene. Ms. Rahman told CNN that she was not there to protest, and that she had received conflicting commands.
Another video shows one agent breaking the window of a car after a man inside refuses to open the door. Multiple agents then tackle the man, later identified as Orbin Mauricio Henriquez Serrano, to the ground.
Shattering a window and pulling someone out of their car can escalate an encounter significantly, said Geoffrey P. Alpert, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina. It would be suitable only in a situation in which the federal agents had probable cause to suspect that the target had committed a violent crime like murder, rape or robbery, he said.
It was not immediately clear whether the man fit that description. The Homeland Security Department said only that he was an undocumented immigrant from Honduras who failed to obey officers’ orders.
They used force on people who were already restrained.
The Times found multiple instances of several agents tackling someone to the ground and proceeding to handle that person aggressively, in one instance placing a knee on the person’s neck.
In another case, video shows five immigration agents holding a man to the ground as one agent repeatedly strikes the man in the face with his knee.
A strike to the head is generally considered deadly force, justified only to defend against imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another person, said Christy Lopez, a professor at Georgetown Law. “There was nothing in that video that indicated that was the situation,” she said.
The available video does not show what led up to the encounter. Ms. McLaughlin said in a statement to The Times that the man had violently resisted arrest. She added that officers are trained to use the minimum necessary amount of force.
They met protesters with force.
Immigration agents have increasingly clashed with protesters in recent weeks after a federal officer shot and killed a woman, Renee Good, on Jan. 7. Protesters have gathered in small groups and in large crowds, honking car horns, blowing whistles and yelling at and filming ICE agents. Immigration agents have been filmed exchanging insults and jeers with the protesters.
Videos showed multiple cases when agents were quick to use physical force with protesters, shoving or tackling them. In one instance, an agent gets out of a car, walks up to a protester who is standing in front of the agent’s car and shoves him into the middle of the street.
Ms. Lopez said that the First Amendment gives people the broad right to protest, record and yell things, even profanity, at officers.
In a statement to The Times, Ms. McLaughlin characterized the protesters as “rioters and terrorists,” and said that they had assaulted law enforcement and vandalized federal vehicles.
They deployed chemical irritants at close range.
Videos also documented multiple occasions when, in confrontations with protesters, immigration agents deployed chemical irritants with little to no warning — firing directly in people’s faces.
A federal judge in Minneapolis cited several episodes of “gratuitous deployment of pepper spray” in a ruling last week that ordered agents not to retaliate against peaceful protesters. A federal appeals court temporarily lifted those restrictions on Wednesday.
In a video of a protest taken on Jan. 7 near where Ms. Good was killed, federal agents can be seen on multiple occasions hitting protesters in the face with pepper spray and other irritants at close range. Earlier in the video, one of the protesters throws a snow ball at one of the agents, and some protesters are blocking an agent’s vehicle.
They continued to operate with anonymity.
In many of the videos The Times reviewed, immigration agents drove in unmarked cars, and wore ski masks, neck gaiters or other face coverings. Many also wore a cap and shades, further obscuring their identities, a practice that has been common in immigration operations across the country.
Federal officials have said that face coverings protect the agents and their families from retaliation, such as having their home address or contact information shared online.
But the practice runs counter to protocols for most other law enforcement personnel, like police officers whose uniforms include badge numbers. And critics have suggested that the agents have been emboldened to act with impunity, knowing that their identities are hidden and that it would be difficult to hold them accountable.
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Videos From Minnesota Show How Aggressive ICE Has Gotten During Arrests and Encounters With Protesters
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