After Obama's Uncommon Move, One From Trump

But Trump doesn't plan to let him have the spotlight on the big night
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 20, 2020 8:30 AM CDT
After Obama's Uncommon Move, One From Trump
Joe Biden stands on stage after Kamala Harris spoke during the third day of the Democratic National Convention Wednesday.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Wednesday night was big for Democrats, Thursday night should be bigger. Joe Biden will accept the nomination and officially head into the home stretch of the election with Kamala Harris by his side. Coverage:

  • The speech: The New York Times has a preview of the acceptance speech as it fits into the context of Biden's long political career. It won't just be the most important, but likely the "most surreal" given the circumstances. According to insiders interviewed, the speech "will be fashioned accordingly to meet the moment: more sober than jubilant, more restrained than swaggering, in his most ambitious effort yet to offer the American people a vision of steady leadership and national unity in the face of extraordinary crises."

  • The incumbent: The GOP convention is next week, but President Trump will get a head start on his Biden criticism in a unique place. Trump will give a speech Thursday in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where Biden grew up, reports USA Today. The speech should start about 3pm, per the York Daily Record. It's highly unusual for a presidential candidate to schedule a big speech so close his rival's convention speech, notes the newspaper. On the other hand, it's unprecedented for a former president to be as critical of his successor as Barack Obama was Wednesday night.
  • And on Fox: The Scranton speech won't be Trump's only public appearance on Biden's big day. He will appear on Sean Hannity's Fox News show at 9pm, per the Washington Examiner. Biden is expected to speak in the following hour.
  • The schedule: The final night of the convention will again run from 9 to 11pm Eastern. Speakers include Pete Buttigieg, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Sens. Cory Booker, Tammy Baldwin, Tammy Duckworth, and Chris Coons, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, and, of course, Biden, per the Wall Street Journal. Julia Louis-Dreyfus will be the night's emcee.
  • A long march: Biden "began his public career serving with people born in the 19th century," writes John Harris in Politico Magazine. "If he wins the presidency, he surely will have some young aides who will still be alive in the 22nd century." At 77, he is older than 94% of Americans, and he is older than 27 presidents when they died, writes Harris. Trump, of course, is only 43 months younger. But given the time when these two men came of age, "those three-plus years have an outsize historical significance," adds Harris, pointing to how yearbook photos changed drastically during the 1960s as a cultural transformation in the US took hold.
(More Democratic National Convention stories.)

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