The fourth and final day of the 2024 Democratic National Convention begins in Chicago on Thursday, following appearances and speeches on Wednesday by figures such as former President Bill Clinton, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, among others.
Many other top Democratic Party politicians will deliver speeches tonight before Vice President Kamala Harris accepts the party’s presidential nomination.
The convention comes after a turbulent few months for the Democrats, stemming from Biden’s disastrous performance in the debate against former President Donald Trump on June 27. Biden has since decided not to seek re-election and has endorsed Harris as his candidate.
Here’s a look at the full program for Thursday’s convention.
When will Kamala Harris speak at the 2024 DNC?
Kamala Harris is expected to accept the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination on Thursday, the final night of the convention. Her speech is scheduled to be delivered during the convention’s main platform session from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Insights from the third DNC day: Tim Walz campaigns for everyone, undecided voters demand stage time
Who is Kamala Harris and where was she born?
Harris was born on October 20, 1964 in Oakland to immigrants.
Her father, Donald Harris, was an economics professor at Stanford University and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, was a cancer researcher.
Donald Harris emigrated from Jamaica and remained politically active throughout his career as an economic advisor to several Jamaican prime ministers. In 1961, he entered the University of California, Berkeley, for graduate studies and received a doctorate in economics.
Kamala Harris’ mother emigrated from India to the USA in 1958. She earned her doctorate at the University of California in Berkeley, where she also met her now ex-husband.
Harris’ family moved from California to Champaign, Illinois, so her parents could take jobs at the University of Illinois.
Both of the Vice President’s parents were active in the civil rights movement.
Harris has a sister two years younger, Maya Harris, who works as a lawyer and legal expert. Maya Harris was an advisor to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and worked with Biden on her sister’s White House campaign in 2020.
Kamala Harris studied political science and economics at Howard University and received a bachelor’s degree in 1986. She received a law degree from UC Hastings College of Law in 1989.
What did Kamala Harris do in California?
Harris has been politically active for decades and has held various offices in California and on Capitol Hill.
After studying law, she worked as an assistant district attorney in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office in her hometown of Oakland from 1990 to 1998. She specialized in prosecuting cases of child sexual abuse.
In 2004, she was elected District Attorney of San Francisco, a position she held until 2010. She advocated for LGBTQ+ rights and presided over the first same-sex marriage ceremony after the repeal of Proposition 8 in California.
She served as California’s attorney general from 2011 to 2017, after winning her first election in November 2010 by a narrow 0.5 percentage point margin over Republican Steve Cooley. On the consumer front, she secured $20 billion in compensation for Californians whose homes were foreclosed on and $1.1 billion in compensation for students and veterans exploited by a for-profit education company, according to her White House biography.
She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, defeating Democrat Loretta Sanchez in the state’s general election primary. She served on the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committees.
When is the DNC 2024?
The DNC is scheduled to take place from August 19 to 22 at the United Center in Chicago.
Full 2024 DNC schedule for Thursday
Here’s a look at the full 2024 DNC schedule for Thursday.
Note: All times listed are West Coast Time.
- 05:00–07:30: Delegation breakfast
- 7:00–8:00 a.m.: Morning press conference
- 07:30–09:30: Women’s Caucus Meeting
- 10:00–11:30 a.m.: Disability Caucus meeting
- 10.00–11.30 a.m.: Youth Council meeting
- 10.00–11.30 a.m.: Rural Council meeting
- 11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m.: Veterans & Military Families Council meeting
- 11:45 a.m.–1:15 p.m.: Meeting of the Poverty Council
- 11:45 a.m.–1:15 p.m.: Meeting of the Interreligious Council
- 4pm-8pm: Main programme
How to watch and stream the DNC 2024
The convention will be broadcast live from the United Center in Chicago on Thursday between 4 and 8 p.m. on the broadcaster’s website.
USA TODAY will provide live stream coverage of the DNC every night Monday through Thursday on YouTube.
Other streaming options include:
What channel is Day 4 of the 2024 DNC on?
The Democratic National Convention can be viewed on several channels. Each television station handles its coverage slightly differently.
Here’s a breakdown of the major networks and their coverage plans for the DNC:
- C-SPAN will hold the entire conference on all four days without interruption.
- CBS News will broadcast the convention from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday. CBS News 24/7, the network’s streaming platform, will carry prime-time coverage all four days starting at 8 p.m. ET. Coverage will be moderated by CBS Evening News anchor and editor-in-chief Norah O’Donnell.
- ABC News will broadcast the convention on Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ABC News Live, the network’s streaming news channel, will broadcast prime-time coverage all four days from 7 p.m. to midnight.
- Fox News will present a one-hour special every evening from Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m. entitled “Fox News Democracy 2024: The Democratic National Convention,” co-hosted by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
- CNN will have nearly 24/7 live coverage from the DNC, including special live coverage each night from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. with CNN Democratic National Convention.
- News Nation will have special primetime coverage called “Decision Desk 2024: The Democratic National Convention,” airing daily from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Co-hosts include Chris Cuomo, Elizabeth Vargas and Leland Vittert.
- NBC News will stream the convention on its streaming platform NBC News Now as part of its “Decision 2024” program. The coverage will air from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday and will be anchored by Lester Holt and Savannah Guthrie, according to the New York Times.
- MSNBC will broadcast special coverage every night from 5 to 9 p.m. and will also stream all four days of the convention live on its YouTube channel, the New York Times reported.
What are the themes for each night of the DNC?
The DNC announced the evening’s themes for the convention. The title of the convention is “For the People, For Our Future.”
Here are the topics for each evening:
- Monday: “For the people”
- Tuesday: “A bold vision for America’s future”
- Wednesday: “A fight for our freedoms”
- Thursday: “For our future”
Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on X. @GabeHauari or email him at [email protected].
