“Scandal” star Kerry Washington appeared on the Democratic National Convention to offer a demonstration on how to pronounce Vice President Kamala Harris’s first name.

On the Chicago stage, the actor made a dig at Republicans who she claims are purposely mispronouncing the Democratic nominee’s name. Former president Donald Trump has repeatedly mispronounced and mocked Harris’ first name including at a July 24 rally in Charlotte.

“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.”

Washington proceeded to introduce Harris’ grandnieces Amara and Leila onto the stage to properly pronounced “Kamala.”

The first part of her name, the girls said, is ‘comma’, like in a sentence; and the second part, is ‘la’.

The actor then asked the DNC audience to join them in chanting the name.

Before the demonstration, the actor urged voters to remember that they are the lead characters in the story of this nation.

Washington also brought on “Scandal” co-star Tony Goldwyn, who played President President Fitzgerald Grant, on stage to chant “When Kamala wins, America wins.”

Not just Republicans: Bill Clinton mispronounces Harris’ name on night 3

During a Wednesday night endorsement speech, former president Bill Clinton mistakenly mispronounced Harris’ first name. While pronouncing it right at first she later mispronounced referred to Harris as “KAmahla” instead of the accurate “KAHmala.”

Clinton also applauded President Joe Biden for the added sense of pride within the Democratic party since he took office in 2020.

Clinton, in a lengthy speech, also criticized Republican’s economic record at at Trump himself for, including his tendency to mention fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter in his speeches.

“When you send a signal to other countries you want them to know, whether they agree with you or not, that you’re on the level about what you say and what you believe,” Clinton said. “What are they supposed to think about the endless tributes to the late great Hannibal Lecter?”

DNC live updates: Elizabeth Warren, Steph Curry speak; Kamala Harris to take the stage

How to watch and stream the 2024 DNC

The convention will air live on its website, from the United Center in Chicago between 6:15 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern (5:15 p.m. to 10 p.m Central) on Monday, and 7 p.m to 11 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Central) the other days.

USA TODAY will provide livestream coverage on YouTube each night of the DNC, Monday through Thursday.

What are the themes for each night of the DNC?

The DNC announced nightly themes for the convention. The title of the convention is “For the People, For Our Future.”

Here are the themes for each night:

• Monday: “For the People”
• Tuesday: “A Bold Vision for America’s Future”
• Wednesday: “A Fight for our Freedoms”
• Thursday: “For our Future”

Contributing: James Powel

Many people watching the Democratic National Convention roll call on Tuesday night were surprised to hear the song that blasted through the arena when Wyoming’s delegates pledged their support for Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee.

To many people’s surprise, “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas was played as the Cowboy State had its brief time in the national spotlight.

A different song was played for each U.S. state and territory during the roll call.

State Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, one of Wyoming’s delegates, said “I Gotta Feeling” was not one of the song choices that Wyoming Democratic Party Chair Joe Barbuto had suggested to the DNC.

Nevertheless, that’s what played as Barbuto announced their commitment to Harris.

“I was more excited about the message he (Barbuto) gave and the energy we gave than about the song,” Yin said.

Repeated Cowboy State Daily requests for which songs Wyoming suggested weren’t answered by publication time.

Slighted?

Nearly all the songs had some type of connection to the state they were played for.

Massachusetts got a punk song about Boston. Kansas was represented by a song from the band Kansas. Minnesota’s roll call was to Prince, as the pop superstar spent much of his life there.

But there is no known connection of any kind between the 2009 dance hit “I Gotta Feeling” or the Black Eyed Peas and Wyoming.

“I wouldn’t have suggested that song,” Yin said.

If the song was in reference to the musical host of the evening, DJ Cassidy, “having a feeling” that Wyoming will vote for Harris in the upcoming presidential election, he’s making quite a leap of faith. The state hasn’t voted for a Democrat for president since 1964, and in 2020 and 2016 voted for former President Donald Trump by a larger margin than any other state.

It’s not that country-western tunes weren’t on the playlist during the roll call either.

For instance, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” was played for that southern state, while “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” was played for West Virginia.

Wyoming suffered the same fate as a few other states and territories like Maine and Guam that reportedly had their song choices snubbed.

DJ Cassidy told the New York Post on Wednesday that other picks — like Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” for Maryland, Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” for Connecticut and Wyoming’s song choice (whatever it was) — were more about the flow of music during the 75-minute show.

“So when there was an opportunity for a state to collaborate with me on a song, when there was an opportunity where there wasn’t necessarily a sure-shot obvious song, I posed … a master list of songs that I thought exuded the emotion of the night, and in several cases, I was able to, you know, put some of those songs into the puzzle,” he said.

15 Seconds Of Fame

When announcing that the 17 Wyoming delegates cast their votes for Harris, Barbuto mentioned how the state was the first to give women the right to vote and elect a female governor.

“With that legacy at mind and heart, the Equality State casts all of our votes for the woman who’s going to be the first woman president of the United States, say it with me now, Kamala Harris,” Barbuto yelled.

Cheering in the background was state Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, Rep. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie, Yin, Hot Springs County Democratic Party Chairman Kim Bartlett, and Albany County Democratic Party State Committeewoman Artemis Langford.

Yin said the energy of the moment greatly overshadowed any disappointment that the DNC didn’t pick a song that was more emblematic of Wyoming’s western heritage and rural culture.

“The roll call was a really exciting and energetic time for the delegates to represent their states,” Yin said. “Even if we weren’t able to pick our song, it allowed us the opportunity for the Equality State and Cowboy State to be noticed on a national level.”

Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.

The San Francisco Giants remain on the fringes of the National League wild card race. At 65-64, they are only 3.5 games behind for the third and final wild card spot that is currently held by the Atlanta Braves.

The Giants blew a golden opportunity to cut into that lead last week when they lost three out of four games to the Braves. That disappointing series really put a damper on their postseason odds, which sit at 6.7 percent on before games on Thursday.

If they are going to make a late-season push, they will need to find some help for Tyler Fitzgerald in the lineup. He has been a one-man wrecking crew since the All-Star break, being recognized by Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report as one of the hottest players in baseball.

Through 31 games and 135 plate appearances in the second half, Fitzgerald has produced a slash line of .325/.378/.699. His tOPS+ and sOPS+ are both elite over that period as he has launched 12 home runs with eight doubles and one triple, knocking in 21 runs and scoring 24.

Fitzgerald is also providing a spark on the base paths with his seven steals. This is a hot streak that began in June and has carried through the rest of the summer to this point. A truly scorching July has pretty much been sustained through August, as Fitzgerald is keeping this offense afloat almost by himself.

He wasn’t even playing poorly in the first half. Fitzgerald had a slash line of .279/.337/.430 in the first half which is more than adequate. His performance has just reached new heights and he has gone nuclear in the second half.

Just how good has the San Francisco rookie been? According to FanGraphs, he has the fourth-highest WAR in baseball since July 19th. The only players better are Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays.

As an added bonus, Fitzgerald has incredible versatility in the field. As Kelly noted, he has been logging a majority of his innings at shortstop, but he is also playing left field, center field, first base and second base.

That will help manager Bruce Bochy find rest for guys who need a breather without having to take his hottest bat out of the lineup. Fitzgerald is cementing his status as a core piece for the Giants moving forward with every game they play.