Here’s What Went Down During Day Four of The 2024 DNC
On day four, the last day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Vice President Kamala Harris gave her presidential nomination speech — and a rumor that Beyoncé was supposed to perform never came to fruition.
With the first, second and third recaps of the Democratic National Convention done, here’s what happened on day four, the last day of the DNC.
Kamala Harris gives her presidential nomination speech
Aiming to become the United States’ first Black woman and first South Asian American president, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris took the DNC stage to formally accept the nomination and close out the convention with a moving speech.
She began with discussing her childhood before shifting to her rise as a prosecutor, attorney general, senator and vice president, as well as what she intends to do if elected as president.
“I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations,” she vowed. “A president who leads and listens; who is realistic, practical and has common sense; and always fights for the American people. From the courthouse to the White House, that has been my life’s work.”
She contrasted this with her rival, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who she referred to as an “unserious man” who “is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors.”
“Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails, and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States,” Harris said. “Not to improve your life, not to strengthen our national security, but to serve the only client he has ever had: himself.”
After highlighting the stakes of this year’s election against Trump, Harris ended on a message of unity, saying that she sees a nation “that is ready to move forward” and an America “where we care for one another, look out for one another and recognize that we have so much more in common than what separates us.”
“It is now our turn to do what generations before us have done, guided by optimism and faith, to fight for this country we love, to fight for the ideals we cherish and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth: the privilege and pride of being an American,” she said as she concluded her speech. “So let’s get out there, let’s fight for it. Let’s get out there, let’s vote for it, and together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.”
Members of the Central Park Five call out Trump
Four members of the Central Park Five — a group of Black and Latino teenagers arrested and charged for the rape and assault of a White female jogger in Central Park in 1989 only to be exonerated in 2002 after DNA evidence matched to someone else who confessed to the attack — condemned Trump for buying full-page newspaper ads calling for the teens to be executed back then.
"Our youth was stolen from us," Korey Wise, one of the members, said. "Every day, as we walked into the courtroom, people screamed at us and threatened us because of Donald Trump. He spent $85,000 on a full-page ad in the New York Times calling for our execution. We were innocent kids. But, we served a total of 41 years in prison."
Another member, Yusef Salaam, now a New York City council member, also spoke.
“45 wanted us unalive,” Salaam said.
"That man thinks that hate is the animating force in America. It is not," Salaam added. "We have the constitutional right to vote, in fact, it is a human right. So, let us use it. I want you to walk with us. I want you to march with us. I want you to vote with us."
A Beyoncé rumor doesn’t come true
Despite rumors circulating that Beyoncé was to appear as a special guest at the DNC on its final day, it never happened. It would have made sense, though. Her fiery 2016 anthem, “Freedom,” has basically become the de facto anthem for Harris’ presidential campaign. There’s an obvious symmetry there, and that probably increased the believability of reports. There were some things pointing to the Queen Bey hitting the stage. At the convention, a house band vocalist did a soundcheck for “Cuff It.” Then there was the holding area being done up in a way that wasn’t even done for Oprah Winfrey’s surprise appearance.
Then, seemingly came confirmation: TMZ reported that Beyoncé was going to appear.
However, as the night went on and Harris finally took the stage (and The Hollywood Reporter published a story where a Beyoncé rep said she “was never scheduled” to attend the convention), it became clear that the Queen B wasn’t going to be at the DNC.
“To quote the great Beyoncé: We gotta lay our cards down, down, down ... we got this one wrong,” TMZ would later write in an update of its original story about her appearance.
Needless to say, all of America laid their cards down after realizing Beyoncé was nowhere to be found at the convention.