DNC day 4: Start time, speakers, how to watch and stream Kamala Harris speech

Vice President Kamala Harris will be in the spotlight at the Democratic National Convention Thursday, officially accepting the party’s presidential nomination one month after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.

It will be the most important speech of Harris’ political career, an opportunity to tell her story to upward of 20 million people watching at home. Polling shows most voters remain unfamiliar with her political career and her vision for the country, thanks in part to her sudden ascent to the front of the Democratic ticket.

Harris has announced a few policy proposals she’d work to enact as president, including increases to the child tax credit, $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, and a call for ending the federal income tax on tips, an idea that former President Donald Trump agrees with (though Harris wants rules to limit the tax break to service and hospitality workers, according to the Washington Post).

» READ MORE: Live updates: Kamala Harris to speak at DNC, Donald Trump's unhinged attack on Josh Shapiro

Regardless what she says, Thursday’s speech will be a much different experience for Harris than the 2020 DNC, where she was forced to speak to supporters through television screens on a silent stage amid the height of the COVID pandemic.

“Let’s fight with hope,” Harris said in 2020, an echo of her 2024 strategy of emphasizing “freedom” and “joy” in her campaign against Trump.

“Hope is making a comeback,” former first lady Michelle Obama said of Harris’ campaign during her DNC speech Tuesday.

Scandal star Kerry Washington will host the evening’s festivities, while Doylestown native Pink is slated to perform before Harris walks onto the stage.

In an attempt at counterprogramming, Trump is scheduled to visit Cochise County, Ariz., where he will visit the U.S. southern border late Thursday morning, his campaign said. His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, is also scheduled to speak about immigration and border security at a campaign event in Valdosta, Ga.

» READ MORE: Kamala Harris will wrap up the DNC in Chicago, while Donald Trump’s campaign schedule focuses on the border

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

Prime-time programming at the Democratic National Convention is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Eastern Thursday and last four hours. Harris is scheduled deliver her keynote address beginning at 10:45 p.m. Philly time, according to the White House.

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, live coverage will begin at 8 p.m. on WHYY. ABC, NBC, and CBS are broadcasting live beginning at 9 p.m., while Fox won’t air live coverage of the DNC. All are offering broader streaming coverage on their respective platforms.

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

C-SPAN, which has broadcast every minute of the DNC, will begin its live prime-time coverage at 7 p.m. It will also stream coverage on C-SPAN.org and on the C-SPAN Now mobile app.

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

That remains unclear. As of Thursday morning, organizers had only announced Harris and a handful of other would be speaking Thursday night.

Here is a list of notable speakers expected to take part Thursday, according to Democrats and multiple 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. Highlights of the Democrats’ platform include lowering costs for families, combating climate change, and restoring Roe v. Wade, which granted women the legal right to obtain an abortion.

There is also usually a formal vote of delegates to officially nominate the party’s presidential candidate, but Harris entered the week as the official nominee, thanks to a virtual vote of delegates taken earlier this month. Instead, Democrats held a ceremonial roll call Tuesday naming her the party’s presidential nominee.

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 is suing ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation after the Good Morning America anchor said a jury concluded Trump had “raped” E. Jean Carroll. The Manhattan jury had found Trump liable for sexual abuse but not rape in the 2023 trial, which has a narrower definition under New York state law. Trump has said the ongoing legal proceedings would not affect his ability to debate on ABC since Stephanopoulos would not be hosting.

The former president proposed two more debates in September on different networks, but the Harris campaign rejected those. Instead, the Harris campaign said it would be open to a second debate in October if Trump shows up on Sept. 10.

Walz and Vance are scheduled to face off in a vice presidential debate on CBS on Oct. 1 in New York City.