The highlights from a night that made history at the DNC
Thursday marked the final night of the Democratic National Convention. Hillary Clinton gave her first speech as the official presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. But before she took the stage, there were a number of landmark moments.
Transgender visibility was front and center
Sarah McBride is an LGBT activist and former White House intern who is currently national press secretary of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. She is also, as she announced on stage, a proud transgender woman. In speaking, she became the first openly transgender person to address a major party’s national political convention.
LGBT rights activist Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender person to address a major party convention, speaks at the Democratic National Convention. More coverage at latimes.com/trailguide.
L.A. mayors, past and present, addressed the nation
Mayor Eric Garcetti and former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa both spoke Thursday evening. Garcetti joked about our city’s demographics, saying, “Los Angeles is a city with such a huge, thriving Latino population that we expect Donald Trump to build a wall around us.”
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks at the Democratic National Convention. More coverage at latimes.com/trailguide.
Villaraigosa spoke about immigration and addressed undocumented immigrants, urging them to “have a voice in our party and our nation.”
Former mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa speaks at the Democratic National Convention about immigration. More coverage at latimes.com/trailguide.
Republicans joined forces against Trump
A representative of Republican Women for Hillary and a former Ronald Reagan White House spokesperson explained why they switched teams for this election.
“I campaigned exclusively for the GOP until this election,” said Jennifer Pierotti Lim. “In Donald Trump’s America, it doesn’t matter that I’m an accomplished attorney and a policy expert, it just matters how attractive I am on a scale of 1 to 10.” She called Trump’s many comments about women and their appearance “too many to list and too crass to repeat” but “too important to ignore.”
I knew Ronald Reagan. I worked for Ronald Reagan. Donald Trump, you are no Ronald Reagan.
— Doug Elmets
Doug Elmets, a Republican public affairs consultant from Sacramento, addressed Trump directly: “I knew Ronald Reagan. I worked for Ronald Reagan. Donald Trump, you are no Ronald Reagan.”
Republican Doug Elmets speaks at the Democratic National Convention. More coverage at latimes.com/trailguide
Star power was on display
There has been a parade of Hollywood A-listers all week, including Meryl Streep, Elizabeth Banks and Sarah Silverman. That trend continued on Thursday, with speeches from Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Chloe Grace Moretz and performances by Katy Perry and Sheila E.
Kareem Abdul-Jabar introduces himself as Michael Jordan at the DNC.
Families of fallen police officers appeared on stage
The DNC took heat from some Republicans, including Donald Trump, for focusing on the Black Lives Matter movement and not showing support for law enforcement. On Thursday, Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez from Texas introduced the families of the five police officers who were shot there earlier this month.
“When my officers report for duty, they have no idea what might come up that day,” said Valdez, who is also the first openly gay Latina Democrat to ever be named Dallas County sheriff. “Violence is not the answer. … We have to start listening to each other.”
The father of a Muslim war hero questioned Trump’s constitutional knowledge
Khizr Khan’s son was a Muslim Army officer killed while serving in Iraq. Khan, a Pakistani-born legal consultant in Virginia who immigrated to the U.S. from the United Arab Emirates, took the opportunity to blast Trump, asking whether the Republican candidate had ever visited Arlington National Cemetery. He questioned whether he had ever even read the Constitution — and to make the point, he pulled a copy out of his pocket and offered to lend it to him.
“You have sacrificed nothing and no one,” said Khan. “Hillary Clinton was right when she called my son ‘the best of America.’ If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America.”
Khizr Khan, the father of a soldier killed in Iraq, speaks at the Democratic National Convention.
Now that they’ve formally been nominated, the two presidential candidates will meet head-to-head for the debates. The first presidential debate is scheduled for Sept. 26.
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