DNC Chicago: Kamala Harris to be nominated at Democratic convention as Adam Kinzinger added to speaker list

Thousands of activists are expected to converge on Chicago this week as the DNC gets underway hoping to call attention to abortion rights, economic injustice and the war in Gaza.

The First Lady will reportedly have a role to play on the first day of the DNC as she seeks to honor and preserve the legacy of her husband, President Joe Biden, despite having voiced her disappointment with those who encouraged him to exit the 2024 race.

Here’s more from Kelly Rissman.

Former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger and former first lady Michelle Obama are the latest big names to be added to the DNC speakers roster.

You may be less familiar with the former than the latter: an ex-United States Air Force pilot who flew missions in South America, Afghanistan and Iraq, Kinzinger voted for Trump in 2020 but emerged as a prominent critic of the outgoing president in the wake of the Capitol riot, breaking ranks to vote to impeach him for a historic and unprecedented second time and subsequently serving on the House Select Committee on the January 6 attack.

He subsequently declined to seek re-election and left office in January 2023 after 12 years in the role, representing Illinois’ 11th and then 16th district and now describes himself as a “Proud RINO”, meaning “Republican In Name Only”.

Kamala Harris has enjoyed an astonising boom in popularity since Joe Biden made his historic decision not to pursue another term in the White House a month ago, standing aside and endorsing his deputy as his successor in the wake of his disastrous debate performance against Trump in Atlanta on June 27.

With the party rallying around Harris, she has surged in the polls and cemented her appeal by adding Walz to the ticket, a sequence of events that has left Trump and Vance reeling, with seemingly little idea how best to respond to the new challenge they face.

This week’s four-day convention will build towards Harris’s speech on Thursday evening, with Biden, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Michelle Obama all due to address delegates before then.

Here’s your guide to what’s scheduled and when.

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which will see Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz formally nominated to be the party’s candidates in the 2024 presidential race to take on Donald Trump and JD Vance.