Democrats have announced their official lineup of speakers for the 2020 Democratic Convention that starts Monday. The DNC’s virtual convention will feature 2 hours of prime-time television, 9 to 11, for four straight days. Democrats have said that they will also feature talks from everyday Americans, several which have been leaked already.
Organizers say that no out-of-town speakers are allowed to deliver their speeches from Milwaukee, where the convention was planned before it went virtual. However the event “still highlights the great city of Milwaukee,” says DNC Chairman Tom Perez, reported by NBC.
The line up goes as follows, as reported by NPR:
Monday: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (a former Republican Governor who ran against President Trump in the 2016 primaries) and former first lady Michelle Obama.
Tuesday: Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former President Bill Clinton and Jill Biden.
Wednesday: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former President Barack Obama and Kamala Harris, whom Biden has just picked to be his Vice President, as reported by New York Times.
Thursday: New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, California Sen. Kamala Harris, the Biden family and, last but not least, the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
Several of Biden’s former primary competitors made it onto the stage, but with a few notable exceptions. Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, former housing Secretary Julián Castro and venture capitalist Andrew Yang.
The former presidential candidate Andrew Yang expressed his disappointment in not being added to the DNC’s lineup on Twitter saying, “I’ve got to be honest I kind of expected to speak.”
After following up with Yang, Dave Weigel of the Washington Post tweeted the following: Just talked to @AndrewYang about this tweet. He’ll be “involved in the convention video package,” but said the lack of a higher-profile speech “makes my job harder to appeal to the 42% of my supporters who said they weren’t going to vote for Joe.”