“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

ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Commanders got Day 16 of Training Camp started with a bang by trading receiver Jahan Dotson to the Philadelphia Eagles.

On a day of practice where the Commanders’ 2022 1st Round NFL Draft pick wasn’t present due to the trade, there’s no more impactful storyline today to start our notebook with than that.

Where does Washington go next? That’s the biggest question facing the franchise after the stunner dropped Thursday morning.

READ MORE: Washington Commanders HC Dan Quinn Praises LB Bobby Wagner: ‘Remarkable Competitor’

The writing may have been on the wall for a minute now. Whether it’s scheme, personalities, or simply time for a change of scenery, the separation of Dotson and the franchise that drafted him is something that has been brewing under the surface for a little while.

Speculation about Dotson’s future really came to a head when head coach Dan Quinn told everyone the second receiver job was still open for hiring, and that nobody had secured the spot yet.

Add to that the first round receiver’s presence on the field with second team offenses in the preseason, and it seems the fact Washington and the receiver weren’t on the same page was a secret on full display.

Now, Dotson gets to go home to restart his NFL career, and he’ll do it with the benefit of All-Pro caliber teammates like receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith dominating defender attention.

Once the wound from being traded gets to heal a bit, the salve of realizing the situation he now finds himself in will help accelerate the process.

That’s the question most – if not all – Commanders fans are asking themselves this very moment. What happens next?

Entering the pre-draft process and free agency window many Washington fans wanted the team to target either a free agent or a rookie to add more spice to the receiver room. General manager Adam Peters did draft Luke McCaffrey in the third round, but he hasn’t seemed to quench the thirst outsiders have for an improved receiver room for quarterback Jayden Daniels.

With Dotson out of the picture now, it would appear to many that Terry McLaurin, Dyami Brown, Olamide Zaccheaus, and McCaffrey now represent the best that room has to offer. And it’s not good enough.

Will the team really stick with the unit it has now? Or is another player – maybe even Brandon Aiyuk – be in play here?

Most general managers tell you the first thing a team has to do on its way to being a Super Bowl champion is win its division. Or at least be competitive.

This is now twice Peters has traded within the division, and both trades have seemingly benefitted the Eagles – the team many expect to reclaim the NFC East Division title after fumbling it away at the end of last season.

It’s not as bad as helping the Dallas Cowboys, but benefiting Philadelphia as the Washington GM is a quick way to losing favor in a very intense fan base.

For now, fans are staying patient and following the ‘trust in Adam’ line, but if cornerback Cooper DeJean (the defender the Eagles drafted following a trade with the Commanders in April) and/or Dotson comes back to bite the Commanders this season, some of that patience may wear thin very quickly.

It’s a bold and brave move by Peters to deal so much with a team he’s directly competing with for an automatic bid into the NFL Playoffs. But some are wondering if it isn’t his first major misstep as an NFL general manager.

READ MORE: NFL Betting Odds: Commanders Favorite to Land Cowboys Star WR CeeDee Lamb

Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more FREE coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 season.

• Commanders Trade Jahan Dotson; 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk Deal Coming?

• ‘He Will Slide’: Commanders QB Jayden Daniels Protecting Body Crucial to Success

• Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels Reveals Thoughts on ‘Earning’ Starting Job

• Former Washington Tight End Tells All About Life and Football in New Memoir

About 40 miles east of Athens, GA (home to the state’s most prestigious University, UGA – “Go Dawgs!”) on U.S. 78, is the picturesque small town of Washington, in the heart of Wilkes County. I have been through it many times.

On one such trip, many years ago, coming back from a visit with friends in Athens over Thanksgiving, I decided to (finally) stop at the “Washington-Wilkes Historical Museum,” housed in a huge old two-story columned house on the downtown main street. I had been by there many times, but never stopped in before to see what they had. (The Robert Toombs house is two houses away.)

I picked up their brochure and took the self-guided tour, staying maybe about an hour. When I got home, and later read the brochure, I discovered to my surprise that the original portion of the house had been built by a distant relative, Albert Gallatin Semmes!

So the next time I went to Athens, six months or so later, I made a point to stop back by on the way home, again. This time I went to find the curator, a white-haired lady named Doris Martin, held out my hand, introduced myself, then asked for the keys!

When she looked up at me in surprise, I explained about my earlier visit, and discovering upon my return to Savannah and reading their brochure, that the original owner was a relative! Whereupon the kind woman undertook to give me her personal guided tour, and explained what she knew.

The original house, she said, was what was now the ground-level basement, later used as the kitchen, and the two upper floors were added later, along with the east and west wings. She showed me the second story’s western wing, and pointed out the six-inch drop from the floor of the main house to the floor of the wing.

We don’t know if that was due to a lack of proper measuring, or the weight of the addition sinking into soft soil,” she told me. “So you have to watch your step.”

She said that the surrounding ~100 acres or so were part of the original farm, but had been sold off by later owners, and were now residential areas. And that the original owners had apparently gotten spooked by a yellow fever epidemic in 1857, so sold the property, packed up everyone and everything, and moved back to Mississippi!

She directed me to the nearby county (Carnegie) library, and told me to ask for the woman in charge of their special collections section, who could show me the various cemetery records (city, church and family) to see if I could find any relatives buried there. I did go by, looked through all of what was there, but couldn’t find a one! So apparently my ancestors “got out while the getting was good,” and didn’t lose a soul in the process.

The other remarkable thing about that second trip was that the curator had the same name as a long-time Savannah dance and theatre icon, Doris Martin, who ran a dance studio for young girls for many years, and choreographed many Little Theatre summer musicals.

She and her husband Harris also served on the LT Board of Directors. I knew them both well from my LT days.

Another recent discovery I made, at an antiques shop in downtown Savannah, down the street from a BBQ joint I sometimes go for lunch, was a book on this very topic.

One of their window displays was a three-level bookshelf with a variety of old books; and a slender green volume at one end of the second shelf caught my eye: “The History of Wilkes County, Georgia.”

I was unaware of such a volume, so of course had to go inside and look at it.

I told the young man who pulled it off the shelf for me that I only needed to “look at it for a minute, and would give it right back to him.”

“Unless, of course, you want to buy it!” he said with a smile. “Of course,” I replied, cheerfully but doubtfully.

Then I turned to the index, and found to my surprise at least half a dozen entries under the name “Semmes.”

“OK, I’ll take it!” I told him. “That was quick,” he said. I told him I’d found what I was looking for, but hadn’t expected to find.

So, five minutes and $62 later, I walked out with it in my hand.

All I’ve had time to do so far is put post-it flags on all the pages referencing Semmes family members.

I will eventually scan those pages, and the introduction to the volume – which is a story in itself – and send them to family members.

One small note: This apparently was a Protestant branch of the family, unlike mine, which was long Catholic. But then, I don’t think there were many Catholics in Georgia back then, unlike Maryland, where my branch of the family comes from. So that may have been more to do with necessity than conviction.

Life is full of surprises!

Rafe Semmes is a proud graduate of (“the original”) Savannah High School and the University of Georgia.

He and his wife live in eastern Liberty County, and are long-time Rotarians. He writes on a variety of topics, and may be reached at rafe_semmes@yahoo.com.