Democratic National Convention: Start time, speakers, how to watch and stream first night

For Tuesday night’s DNC schedule and speakers, click here.

Vice President Kamala Harris will be in the spotlight this week as the 2024 Democratic National Convention begins Monday in Chicago.

Harris has only been the Democratic presidential nominee for about a month, jumping to the top of the ticket after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. So the DNC will serve as a platform to inform voters where she stands on important issues and offer a contrast to the policies pushed by her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.

Ahead of the DNC, Harris was campaigning with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on a bus tour of Western Pennsylvania Sunday. Despite favorable poll numbers in recent weeks, Harris told reporters she had a lot of work to do to defeat Trump in November.

“I very much consider us the underdogs,” Harris said. “We have a lot of work to do to earn the vote of the American people. That’s why we’re on this bus tour today, and we’re going to be traveling this country as we’ve been and talking with folks, listening to folks, and hopefully earning their votes over the next 79 days.”

Among those who will be attendance Monday night is Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was on the short list of candidates to be Harris’ running mate. It’s unclear if Shapiro will have a speaking role Monday, but he’ll be attending the event, according to his public schedule.

Hosting the festivities Monday night will be Scandal and Ghost actor Tony Goldwyn. The remaining three nights of the convention will be hosted by Republican political strategist Ana Navarro (who has voted for Democrats since Trump’s 2016 run) and Hollywood stars Kerry Washington and Mindy Kaling.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream the first night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention:

Primetime programming at the Democratic National Convention is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Eastern and last four hours, though most broadcast networks won’t begin their live coverage until 10 p.m.

The convention will stream live on the DNC’s official website and across all their social media channels. You can also stream it live on Inquirer.com, courtesy of the DNC:

In Philadelphia, CBS is planning to air live coverage beginning at 8 p.m. NBC, ABC, and WHYY’s live coverage (via PBS) is slated to begin tonight at 10 p.m. Fox won’t air live coverage.

CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and NewsNation will offer live coverage starting hours before the event begins, each offering analysis.

C-SPAN will broadcast every minute of the DNC, something the network has done for the conventions of both parties since 1984. It will also stream coverage on C-SPAN.org and on the C-SPAN Now mobile app.

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

President Joe Biden will be in the spotlight Monday, delivering a speech that will both help highlight the candidacy of his vice president and offer a goodbye to politics after having served more than 50 years in Washington.

Biden will use his speech to say Harris is the best person to finish a campaign he dropped out of following a disastrous debate performance in June, according to the New York Times. Themes will include protecting democracy and preventing Trump from returning to the White House.

So far, Biden and Harris have made just one joint appearance since he left the race, but the president plans to ramp up his campaign schedule following the convention, aides told the New York Times.

Also scheduled to speak Monday is former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Democrats have not yet released a full schedule of Monday’s speakers, but here’s who is expected to speak, according to media reports:

The Democratic National Convention will take place over four nights, from Monday to Thursday. Convention programming is scheduled to air live each night from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern.

Here are the most notable speakers for the remaining nights of the convention, including local lawmakers, according to Democrats and media reports:

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 Democrats haven’t updated since Biden dropped out of the race, according to the Associated Press.

“The Democratic Party Platform will embody the values of our party and build upon the historic accomplishments Democrats have made during the Biden-Harris administration,” the Democratic National Committee said in a statement to the Associated Press last week. “The Platform Committee worked diligently with stakeholders from all corners of our party to create a bold, progressive agenda for the next four years, and the platform that delegates will vote on at convention will be a reflection of that process.”

There is also usually a formal vote of delegates to officially nominate the party’s presidential candidate, but Harris is already officially the nominee, thanks to a virtual vote of delegates taken earlier this month.

Harris and Trump have agreed to at least one presidential debate. It will take place Sept. 10 in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center at 9 p.m., hosted by ABC News. Here’s what we know about tickets to the event.

It’s not the first time Philadelphia has hosted a presidential debate. Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford debated at the Walnut Street Theatre in 1976, the first televised debate since Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy famously faced off in 1960. The city also hosted a vice presidential debate between George H.W. Bush and Geraldine Ferraro at the Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center in 1984.

Trump proposed two more debates in September, but the Harris campaign rejected those. Instead, the Harris campaign said it would be open to a second debate with Trump in October if he shows up to the Sept. 10 debate.