What to know about DNC 2020 night two

After debuting a virtual event Monday night that featured celebrities, musicians, politicians, and a Delaware County business owner, the Democratic National Convention heads into its second night Tuesday.

It’s all part of a four-night celebration that will culminate with former Vice President Joe Biden officially becoming the Democratic presidential nominee. Biden is scheduled to speak Thursday from the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del. His running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, who will speak Wednesday night.

Among the notable figures scheduled to speak Tuesday are former President Bill Clinton, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Delaware Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester — a Philadelphia native who is the first woman and first person of color ever elected to represent the state in Congress.

Headlining Tuesday’s speeches is former second lady Jill Biden, a Philadelphia native, who protected her husband from hecklers and stage crashers on the campaign trail. Biden will deliver her speech from Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Del., where she taught English while her husband served in the Senate.

Tonight will also be the convention’s keynote address, which this year will be delivered by 17 “rising stars” from across the country. Among those is Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, a North Philadelphia native and the only Black and LGBTQ person elected to the state legislature.

Kenyatta will be joined by two other Pennsylvania lawmakers — Reps. Brendan Boyle and Conor Lamb.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream the second night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention:

The second night of the Democratic National Convention is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Eastern and last two hours.

The convention will stream live on the DNC’s website and across all their social media channels. In Philadelphia, it will also air live on NBC, ABC, CBS, and WHYY, with most networks opting to carry the final hour beginning at 10 p.m. CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News will also offer live coverage starting hours before the event begins, each offering their own analysis.

Comcast Xfinity X1 subscribers can watch all the programming by simply saying “DNC” into their remote.

You can also stream it live on Inquirer.com, courtesy of the DNC:

Seven main speakers are scheduled to deliver speeches Tuesday night, headlined by former second lady Jill Biden. The full list of speakers includes:

Instead of turning to one up-and-coming lawmaker to deliver this year’s keynote address, Democrats are enlisting 17 “rising stars” and promising to offer “a diversity of different ideas and perspectives on how to move America forward.” They are:

Scott Richardson, who owns a catering business called Occasionally Yours in Swathmore, was the first person interviewed Monday night by host Eva Longoria. Richardson, who supported Donald Trump in 2016, explained business was down 40% since the start of the pandemic, and as a result he’s been forced to lay off half of his employees.

“Quite honestly, over all these years, we’ve faced some adversity and challenges, but to be honest, nothing like we are today,” Richardson said. “We’ve literally had to reinvent our business several times since the beginning of the year just to stay afloat.”

Monday’s program was headlined by former First Lady Michelle Obama, who delivered an emotional speech in which she praised former Vice President Joe Biden’s empathy and tore into President Donald Trump by name, declaring him “in over his head” and “the wrong president for our country.”

One person noticeably absent from Obama’s speech was Sen. Kamala Harris, whom Biden selected to be his vice presidential nominee last week. According to CNN’s Jake Tapper, Obama pre-recorded her speech before Harris received the nomination.

The Democratic National Convention will take place over four nights this week. It began Monday and will run through Thursday. Convention programming is scheduled to air live each night from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern.

Here are the most notable speakers for the remaining nights of the convention, including local lawmakers:

While political conventions have largely grown into television events designed to promote political parties and their leaders, the business of the convention includes formalizing a party platform, which was updated at the end of July. It is based on a report issued by joint task forces organized by Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who garnered the second most delegates during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

To the dismay of some of the party’s more progressive members, the platform doesn’t include a plan for a single-payer health care system, like “Medicare for all.” Instead, it calls for the addition of a public option to the existing Affordable Care Act.

There will also be a formal vote of delegates to officially nominate Biden as the party’s presidential nominee.

The 2020 Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin Monday, Aug. 24. President Donald Trump confirmed on Monday he plans to deliver his acceptance speech from the lawn of the White House. He is also expected to be the central focus each night.

Republicans haven’t yet released an official list of speakers, but in addition to the Trump family, other Republicans reportedly expected to deliver remarks include South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and Pennsylvania congressional candidate Sean Parnell. Vice President Mike Pence is expected to deliver his speech on Wednesday, Aug. 26 from Fort McHenry in Baltimore.

Also expected to speak during the Republican National Convention are Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who pointed guns at Black Lives Protesters outside their home in June.