The Democratic National Convention (DNC) continued for a third night on Wednesday. We at PJ Media have been subjecting ourselves to this torture so you don’t have to. Check out our liveblogs from Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and follow us live Thursday night.
Without further ado, here’s a recap of the third night.
1. Obama acted like he didn’t try to keep Biden from running
So, former President Barack Obama endorsed his former vice president, Joe Biden. Obama said, “Twelve years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I didn’t know that I’d end up finding a brother.” He failed to mention his history of telling Biden not to run, however.
Last year, The New York Times published a lengthy feature about Biden’s relationship with Obama. Among other things, the Times reported that Obama told his VP not to run in 2016 because he thought Hillary Clinton had the best shot at continuing his legacy. Yet Obama also tried to convince Biden not to run in 2020.
The two men spoke at least a half dozen times before Mr. Biden decided to run, and Mr. Obama took pains to cast his doubts about the campaign in personal terms.”You don’t have to do this, Joe, you really don’t,” Mr. Obama told Mr. Biden earlier this year, according to a person familiar with the exchange. Mr. Biden — who thinks he could have defeated Donald Trump four years ago—responded by telling Mr. Obama he could never forgive himself if he turned down a second shot at Mr. Trump.
As late as March 2020, Obama summoned Biden’s top campaign advisers, Anita Dunn and Kate Bedingfield, warning them to make sure that the former VP doesn’t “embarrass himself” or “damage his legacy.”
On Wednesday night, The Washington Free Beacon’s Andrew Stiles published another stunning revelation — as of the evening when Obama would formally endorse Biden at the DNC, neither Barack nor Michelle had personally contributed a dime to Biden’s campaign. Obama has hosted virtual fundraisers for the nominee, but he hasn’t pitched in himself.
5 Things to Know About Night 2 of the Democratic National Convention
2. Trump’s tweetstorm reaction to Obama’s speech
Of course, Obama had to get in a few digs at the current occupant of the Oval Office. He said President Donald Trump has “never” shown “some interest in taking the job seriously.”
“For close to four years now, he’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves,” Obama said.
“Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe. 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before,” the former president added. Yes, he tried to blame Trump for every American killed by the coronavirus pandemic.
President Trump couldn’t let that stand.
“HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT,” the president tweeted, referring to the unfolding Obamagate scandal. Earlier today, former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty in U.S. Attorney John Durham’s probe into FBI abuses during the investigation into the Trump campaign. Clinesmith admitted to falsifying an email about former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page to say that he was “not a source” for another government agency, even though he was a source for the CIA.
HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2020
Trump then asked the big question covered above: “WHY DID [OBAMA] REFUSE TO ENDORSE SLOW JOE UNTIL IT WAS ALL OVER, AND EVEN THEN WAS VERY LATE? WHY DID HE TRY TO GET HIM NOT TO RUN?”
WHY DID HE REFUSE TO ENDORSE SLOW JOE UNTIL IT WAS ALL OVER, AND EVEN THEN WAS VERY LATE? WHY DID HE TRY TO GET HIM NOT TO RUN?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2020
The president also tweeted a video in which he claimed that his success in the 2016 election was concrete proof that Barack Obama and Joe Biden did not do a good job in the Oval Office.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2020
Obama Questioned Biden’s Fitness for Office: ‘Don’t Underestimate Joe’s Ability to F–k Things Up’ [REPORT]
3. Was it just me, or was Hillary more excited about Kamala Harris than Joe Biden?
The Democrats structured night 3 as a build-up to Sen. Kamala Harris’s (D-Calif.) big speech, which proved a tremendous let-down (more on that later). It seemed speaker after speaker was more focused on and excited about the vice-presidential nominee than the presidential nominee, mostly because of her sex and the color of her skin. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton perhaps captured this best.
Clinton waxed on and on about Harris, calling her “relentless in the pursuit of justice and equity.” Clinton, the first female candidate to win a major party’s nomination and then lose the presidency, added, “I know something about the slings and arrows she’ll face, and believe me, this former district attorney and attorney general can handle them all.”
She praised Biden’s “caring and empathy,” but she presented Harris as the hope for a brighter future.
“Tonight, I’m thinking of the girls and boys who see themselves in America’s future because of Kamala Harris, a black woman, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, and our nominee for Vice President,” Clinton said. “This is our country’s story, breaking down barriers and expanding the circle of possibility.”
If I heard it right, Clinton even gave more emphasis to Kamala Harris in her closing statement. “We’ll redeem the soul and the promise of our country led by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Hillary Clinton: "I am thinking of the girls and boys who see themselves in America’s future because of Kamala Harris — a Black woman, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, and our nominee for Vice President." #DemConvention pic.twitter.com/GxKVRSBBQS
— The Hill (@thehill) August 20, 2020
5 Things to Know About Biden’s VP Pick, Kamala Harris
4. Elizabeth Warren’s Black Lives Matter in classroom letters
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) gave her virtual speech in a classroom, and it seems she made the most of her surroundings. Somehow, she worked the letters “BLM” into the frame on her right, just high enough to not get blocked by a caption.
Those BLM letters next to Elizabeth Warren are… not subtle. Thanks to @texasbryanP for pointing it out and @vodkapundit for the screenshot. #DemConvention #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/RY0Y3ZdDu7
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) August 20, 2020
Warren praised Joe Biden for “having a plan” or something. She suggested that the solution to the economic woes of the pandemic would be “union jobs.” She also said the crisis of the coronavirus pandemic is “on Donald Trump and the Republicans who enable him.”
Both Warren and Harris mentioned the desperate struggles of parents in the pandemic, who find schools shuttered — even though children are extremely unlikely to contract or be carriers for the virus. Ironically, both of them suggested this was Trump’s fault, even though the president has worked to put forward a plan to reopen the schools during the pandemic.
One last tidbit on Black Lives Matter. Among other things, Hillary Clinton told Democrats to “vote for justice, for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery because Black Lives Matter.”
Yet both Democrats and Republicans were horrified by all three of those deaths, and President Trump ordered an FBI investigation into the police killing of George Floyd. Americans only became divided when Black Lives Matter and antifa agitators used protests as an excuse to engage in lawless and violent rioting that have destroyed black lives, black livelihoods, and black monuments. At least 22 Americans have died in the riots, most of them black.
Trump is standing with law enforcement against a movement that wants to “defund” or “abolish” the police, rather than just reforming them. Democrats have carried water for the violent rioters. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) even accused Republicans of “trying to get away with murder… the murder of George Floyd,” because the Republican police reform bill is not as radical as the Democratic proposal. Al Gore recently accused Trump of “putting his knee on the neck of American democracy.”
Warren’s “BLM” stunt was a nod to this despicable rhetoric.
As Antifa Terrorizes Portland, Biden Claims Trump Is Attacking ‘Peaceful Protesters’
5. “I know a predator when I see one.”
When Kamala Harris finally gave the speech all the Democrats were looking forward to, it fell flat. Given Harris’ record of demonizing conservative Christians and then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, I expected a full-throated Jeremiad against Donald Trump. Instead, Harris gave a rambling monologue that was clearly intended to be upbeat but came off rather bland.
One moment stood out, however. While speaking about her career as a prosecutor, Harris declared, “I know a predator when I see one.”
Kamala Harris talks about taking on bankers and sexual offenders in her legal career: "I know a predator when I see one" https://t.co/awW9qLbEkI pic.twitter.com/LMFYcKpSPY
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 20, 2020
This statement seemed particularly significant, and not just because former President Bill Clinton had spoken the night before — after a photo of Clinton getting a massage from one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims went viral.
When women had come forward in April 2019 accusing Joe Biden of inappropriately touching them, sniffing their hair, kissing the back of their heads, and making them uncomfortable, Harris had been among the first to say she believed them.
“I believe them and I respect them being able to tell their story and having the courage to do it,” Harris said at a campaign event in Nevada before Biden entered the race.
At the time, a former Senate staffer by the name of Tara Reade had come forward, saying Biden had touched her inappropriately. Reade later expanded on the allegations in March of this year, when she said Biden slid his hand up her skirt. Biden has denied Reade’s claims and other sources have given mixed accounts. An audio clip from Larry King Live appears to feature Reade’s mother asking for advice about how to deal with a situation between her daughter and a U.S. senator.
Reade’s claims are questionable, but they have far more corroboration than Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual-assault claims against Brett Kavanaugh. Harris vocally condemned Kavanaugh, saying she believed Ford, but she largely ignored Reade’s claims when they resurfaced this year. Indeed, Reade told Fox News that when she reached out to Harris for help she received “no response.”
“Joe Biden sexually assaulted and harassed me. All the rest of political discussion is noise and an effort to distract from the serious lack of justice I experienced at his hands,” Reade said. “Coming forward has been difficult and resulted in 1993 with the loss of my job and career. Coming forward last spring, 2019, about the sexual harassment, resulted in his supporters smearing me online.”
Kamala Harris said she believed Reade in April 2019, but she hasn’t addressed Reade’s claims since. If she truly knows a predator when she sees one, what does she know when she sees Joe Biden?
Add this to the long list of reasons why Kamala Harris is among the slimiest of politicians. After all, Harris essentially accused Biden of racism during the 2020 primary, but now she’s honored to be running with him.
FLASHBACK: Kamala Harris Said She Believes Women Who Accused Joe Biden of Sexual Misconduct
Other tidbits: The DNC has had many technical glitches and snafus. When Pelosi started speaking, the announcer actually spoke over her.
During the video introduction of Kamala Harris, the video showed Harris celebrating the first same-sex wedding in California when she served as the state’s attorney general. This moment was the pinnacle of Harris’s great insult to the millions of Californians who supported Proposition 8 defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Not only did Harris refuse to defend Prop 8 in court, which was her job as the state’s attorney, but she also thumbed her nose in Californian’s faces by officiating the first same-sex wedding in the state.
Democrats kept repeating the canard that everything is a “pandemic” now. Actress Kerry Washington, who emceed the event, spoke of the “pandemic” of racism and the “pandemic” of “violence against members of the trans community.” In a line that bizarrely got cheers on Twitter, Kamala Harris declared, “There is no vaccine for racism.”
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham suggested that the Trump presidency is an “existential crisis.” She warned against “two existential crises, the Trump presidency and the environmental annihilation he represents.” So, if Trump hasn’t destroyed America, does it follow that the climate alarmism is also overblown?
Tyler O’Neil is the author of Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Follow him on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member