Joe Biden is asked if his Chicago convention speech is ‘bittersweet’ and responds to Trump’s claim he was forced out by a Democrat ‘coup’

First lady Jill Biden, followed by President Joe Biden, took the Democratic National Convention stage for a walk-through of Chicago’s United Center ahead of their Monday night speeches.

The first lady wore a light purple blazer and white slacks and sauntered to the podium, surrounded by a flurry of aides and at least one grandchild – Natalie.

‘Testing 1, 2, 3,’ Dr. Biden said into the mic.

Moments later, the president headed to the same spot.

The mic wasn’t on for Biden but he mouthed ‘I am’ when reporters yelled up at him from the convention floor, asking if he was ready to pass the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris.

‘You’ll hear tonight,’ the president added.

Asked if it was a bittersweet moment: “It’s a memorable moment.”

Asked about Donald Trump’s claim that he was ousted from the Democratic ticket in what amounts to a coup, Biden said: “His stability is still in question.”

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden would spend the hours ahead of the president’s scheduled 10 p.m. CDT speech preparing for the moment.

‘He’s going to spend time continuing to prep for a big night,’ she told reporters on board Air Force One.

President Joe Biden used a new Marine One model for the first time for a flight in Chicago on Monday afternoon.

The 81-year-old commander-in-chief boarded the Sikorsky VH-92 Patriot that’s part of a $5 billion fleet manufactured by Lockheed Martin.

The new presidential helicopters were forced to land on paved runways because its engine exhaust and spinning rotors scorched the South Lawn.

The issues now appear to have been resolved, and Biden used the chopper for the first time on the opening leg of his trip to Chicago.

The President rode in the new Marine One helicopter, the VH-92A Patriot. After a transition period, the VH-92A Patriot will eventually replace the VH-3D Sea King and VH-60N White Hawk helicopter.

The iconic ‘white top’ paint scheme of previous Marine One aircraft is represented in the new VH-92A, paying homage to the distinguished legacy of Marine One helicopters dating back to the famed colors pioneered in the late 1950’s.

The President’s current Marine One helicopter, the VH-3D, entered service in 1978. The VH-60 began service as a Presidential helicopter in 1987

First daughter Ashley Biden will introduce her father, President Joe Biden, at the Democratic National Convention Monday night.

Biden is the final speaker of the night – where he’ll hand the baton over to Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris – and then jet off the California for vacation.

First lady Jill Biden is slated to speak directly ahead of her daughter, who will then introduce the 81-year-old president.

Ashley Biden was spotted doing a walk-through of the United Center Sunday ahead of the convention.

On Monday, during tech rehearsals it appeared the first daughter would walk out to Coldplay’s A Sky Full of Stars, which was a favorite song of the late Beau Biden.

Other Biden family members are expected in Chicago as well.

But White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was tight-lipped when asked by DailyMail.com on board Air Force One to ID members of the Biden clan.

‘I will not say what family members are traveling,’ Jean-Pierre said.

The president was spotted only with Peter Neal, his granddaughter Naomi’s husband, as he departed the White House for Chicago alongside Dr. Biden.

Planned Parenthood Great Rivers announced it was bringing its mobile health clinic to Chicago and offering free services to those who signed up on August 19 and 20, which are the first two days of the convention.

Before the clinic even arrived, they announced that all of the appointments had been filled and that they would follow up if they had cancelations but the move sparked an avalanche of criticism online.

‘The goal was we knew there were tens of thousands of people coming in around this time, and we really wanted to show and highlight what is possible when you have a state that supports reproductive access,’ Dr. Colleen Nicholas, chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, told DailyMail.com.

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent in York, Pennsylvania

Donald Trump accused Kamala Harris of embarking on a ‘regulatory jihad’ to shut down power plants across the country as he set out his own vision of an energy independent, ‘manufacturing dominant’ nation.

Trump was speaking in Pennsylvania on Monday, his second visit to the state in two days, as he sets off on a tour of battleground states.

While Harris is being crowned at her party’s convention in Chicago, he has to revive a campaign that has been buffeted by the Democratic Party‘s late switch in candidates.

He warned his audience of about 300 supporters that his rival wanted to ban fracking and impose a carbon tax.

‘Kamala is also on a regulatory jihad to shut down power plants all across America now,’ he said, claiming that 50 plants had closed since she and Joe Biden took office.

Sen. John Fetterman is one of the most outspoken supporters of Israel within the Democratic Party. It seems his top communications staffer is not.

Carrie Adams, the Pennsylvania Democrat ‘s communications director, publicly broke with her boss in a new interview that raised eyebrows.

‘I don’t agree with him,’ she told the Free Press after an interview the senator gave to the outlet.

‘I have a sense that his international views are a lot less nuanced than my generation, because when he was growing up, it was might makes right, and for my generation and younger who, of course, are the ones protesting this, they have a much more nuanced view of the region,’ Adams added.

The party platform released by the Democratic Party talks up President Joe Biden’s ‘economic vision’ – because it got voted through before he ended his run for reelection.

‘We’re delivering on President Biden’s pledge to rebuild our economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down,’ it says.

It calls the election ‘a choice between two very different economic visions for America: Donald Trump, who sees the world from his country club at Mar-a-Lago; and Joe Biden, who sees it from kitchen tables in Scranton like the one he grew up around.’

It also mentions Donald Trump more than 100 times. It does mention Vice President Kamala Harris, who has unified the party around her after getting Biden’s endorsement. ‘President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats are running to finish the job. It got approved by the party’s Platform Committee July 16 less than a week before Biden stepped back, in a stunning illustration of the pace of the turnaround.

James Taylor will perform his classic, You’ve Got a Friend, at the Democratic National Convention.

The well known singer-songwriter appeared at the United Center Monday afternoon to run through his number onstage.

DNC planners have been tight-lipped about celebrity appearances and performances at the four-day event in Chicago.

Taylor’s performance wasn’t included on the Monday night schedule – but the singer changed a lyric of the song to ‘Joe Biden,’ making it likely he’ll sing tonight as the president will only appear at the DNC this one day.

Disgraced ex-congressman George Santos pleaded guilty to two campaign fraud charges after months of denying wrongdoing, cementing his legacy as the ‘Long Island Liar.’

Santos admitted to committing wire fraud and aggravated identify theft in New York court Thursday and could face six to eight years in prison. According to the plea agreement, the former congressman will also have to pay at least $373,749.97 in restitution.

Santos was expelled from his House seat on Long Island after it was discovered that scores of the claims he made to voters in 2022 about his life and bona fides were completely fabricated, like working on Wall Street and going to New York University.

He also has been accused of funneling political donations into his lavish spending on botox, designer clothes, casino holidays, and OnlyFans fees.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com in Chicago:

Trump tells an audience in the battleground state of Pennsylvania:

“I am here today to deliver a simple message. When I’m back in the White House America’s future will be built right here in Pennsylvania and it will be built by American \workers like you.

We will unleash explosive economic growth and vast new prosperity for all of our citizens. We will put more money in your pockets and create millions of new jobs. Our plan will massively cut taxes, unlock American energy, slash regulations, crack down on trade cheaters, stop outsourcing, rebuild our industrial base and bring back those beautiful words ‘Made in the USA’.

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent

Actor Tony Goldwyn – known best for playing President Fitzgerald Grant III on Scandal – was spotted Monday afternoon in the Democratic National Convention hall prepping to host night No. 1 of the four-day Chicago gathering.

The Democrats tapped three celebrities and one Republican pundit to serve as hosts throughout the week.

Goldwyn will appear onstage Monday, followed by Ana Navarro – a GOP operative and co-host of The View – on Tuesday, Mindy Kaling on Wednesday and Scandal’s Kerry Washington on Thursday.

Goldwyn, Kaling and Washington have long been involved in Democratic causes.

Droves of celebrities are heading to Chicago this week, as there was an uptick in interest after Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com in Chicago:

Antony Blinken said Israel has accepted a proposal to bridge differences holding up a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza.

The U.S. Secretary of State called on Hamas to do the same.

Blinken spoke after holding a meeting lasting more than two hours with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The top U.S. diplomat is expected to travel to Egypt on Tuesday.

The U.S. Egypt and Qatar have spent months trying to broker an agreement with the talks repeatedly stalling.

Blinken did not say whether the so-called bridging proposal addressed Israel’s demands for control over two strategic corridors inside Gaza, which Hamas has said is a non-starter, or other issues that have long undermined the negotiations.

In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel supports the bridging proposal. The next important step is for Hamas to say ‘yes’.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com in Chicago:

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent in York, Pennsylvania

Donald Trump kicks off a week of counterprogramming in the middle of Pennsylvania on Monday afternoon.

He wants to distract from the Democratic coronation in Chicago by hammering Kamala Harris’s record on the economy, the border and crime as he crisscrosses battleground states.

The only thing stopping him from undercutting Kamala Harris’s week? Himself.

Allies outside the campaign say they can’t believe he keeps using press conferences and small events to deliver rally speeches, as he did for an hour and ten minutes last week at his Bedminster golf club, which then obscures his mesage on Harris.

What am I saying? Of course they can believe it. This is Trump after all. But that doesn’t diminish their frustration.

Will Monday afternoon at Precision Custom Components be any different? Don’t bet on it.

He stunned Joe Biden in a U.S. territory 5,000 miles off the coast of the U.S. mainland in a peculiar upset in the president’s march to the nomination. Now, as Democratic delegates meet in Chicago, Jason Palmer is out to prove that he’s more than an answer to an obscure political trivia question.

He even aspires to play the role of backroom dealer who can help Vice President Kamala Harris avoid the kind of intra-party mayhem that has doomed Democratic tickets in the past.

Back when the entire party establishment was rallying behind Biden, Palmer was a lonely voice saying the incumbent didn’t have what it takes. Now, four months after his stunning win over Biden in the American Samoa primary, Palmer isn’t taking credit for forcing Biden’s exit. But he is urging Harris to learn from Biden’s loss and let him be a ‘bridge’ to other disaffected factions within the party.

‘The truth is I probably was like that butterfly that flaps its wings and somehow, in a different part of the world, a change happens,’ Palmer told DailyMail.com over a drink at the famed Billy Goat Tavern in downtown Chicago. ‘But I don’t think I caused it. But I was an early butterfly that saw that this was going to be needed.’

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor for DailyMail.com in Chicago

Cheering supporters will be waving signs with just the president’s name on them when he looks out on the convention during a Monday night speech that bookends his political career.

The signs, captured by DailyMail.com Sunday as organizers prepared for his big night inside the United Center, simply say ‘Biden!’ The Harris campaign printed scores of them to add to the energy of the organized spectacle.

They will send a signal of enthusiasm inside a venue with huge digital signage out front proclaiming the ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, who have been climbing in the polls since Biden dropped out. The campaign rolled out new campaign busses emblazoned with the Harris-Walz logo days ago.

Biden’s speech is set for 10:50 pm EDT (9:50 local time in Chicago). When he is done, he plans to jet to California, where he will remain while Harris accepts the party’s nomination.

D.C. Councilman Trayon White Sr., 40, has been arrested on bribery charges by the Department of Justice.

The DOJ alleges that White accepted over $150,000 in bribes to pressure colleagues into extending contracts for multiple violence prevention firms.

According to the department, the contracts were worth $5.2 million, meaning White’s portion of $156,000 amounted to three percent of the entire contract’s value.

White previously has garnered controversial headlines for suggesting the Jewish financier dynasty the Rothschilds can control the weather.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com in Chicago:

A Chicago-based boarding-up company has been ‘very busy’ because of the Democratic National Convention, its manager told DailyMail.com.

Chicago Board-Up Services manager Vicki Fichter said her company has been working hard preparing local businesses for potential mayhem ahead of the large crowds the DNC is expected to draw.

She said they have boarded up eight businesses and they have three crews on standby to address any urgent needs. However, her boarding-up business has not done any work around Union Park where over 10,000 are expected.

‘This is business for, strictly for the convention,’ she said. ‘This is pre-boarding up to keep the businesses safe just for the convention.’

We knew that there would be an uptick in business because of the DNC, so we were prepared for it. And we are thinking that there will be some type of uptick because of the I don’t want to call it a protest, but you know something, we know something will come a bit, yeah, we hope it’ll be peaceful and quiet, but things always do erupt, and so we are prepared.

Hillary Clinton will speak on night one of the Democratic National Convention on Monday.

The former Secretary of State and first lady is expected to speak about the significance of the moment with the Democratic party nominating the first woman of color and second woman in history as its nominee for president.

Convention organizers noted that Clinton as the first woman ever nominated for the top of a major party ticket in 2016 paved the way for Kamala Harris.

DNC Committee Chair Minyon Moore said the former secretary will likely talk about what it means at this moment to have the second woman and a woman of color running.

‘She has been an incredible partner to Vice President Harris,’ Moore said. ‘They have a great friendship you know, they’re on speed dial with each other.’

President Joe Biden will give the keynote address on Monday night, opening the Democratic National Convention but, by the time it closes on Thursday night with Kamala Harris as the party nominee, he will be thousands of miles away, watching the balloons drop on television like most of Americans.

One month after he decided to exit the presidential race – after intense public and private pressure from his fellow Democrats – Biden will make his last bow before his party.

His remarks will focus on his legacy and make the case why Harris is the best person to succeed him in the Oval Office.

‘After saving democracy in 2020, President Biden is determined to defeat the threat to democracy posed by Donald Trump, who says he would terminate the constitution and be a dictator on day one,’ a Biden aide said.

Some of the most vulnerable Democrats are planning to skip out on their party’s convention where they’ll formally nominate Kamala Harris – in an act that is sure to put daylight between them and the top of the ticket.

Democratic incumbents Jon Tester of Montana , Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Jacky Rosen of Nevada will all be staying out of Chicago next week, they told Axios. They are all running tough reelection campaigns back home.

Sen. John Fetterman , D-Pa., however, is not up for reelection. He’s skipping the four-day affair to spend time with his family.

‘I’ve got three young kids, and they’re out of school,’ Fetterman told the Free Press. ‘That’s four days I can spend with my children.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is among the group of Democrats who will be speaking Monday night on the first evening of the Democratic National Convention.

She is one of a number of speakers revealed to be giving remarks on Day 1 with the theme ‘For the People.’

Others who will speak on the first night include Reps. Jamie Raskin, Jasmine Crockett and Grace Meng. Senators Raphael Warnock, Chris Coons, Governor Andy Beshear and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will also speak.

President Joe Biden will give the keynote address.

Some of the most vulnerable Democrats are planning to skip out on their party’s convention where they’ll formally nominate Kamala Harris – in an act that is sure to put daylight between them and the top of the ticket.

Democratic incumbents Jon Tester of Montana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Jacky Rosen of Nevada will all be staying out of Chicago next week, they told Axios. They are all running tough reelection campaigns back home.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., however, is not up for reelection. He’s skipping the four-day affair to spend time with his family.

‘I’ve got three young kids, and they’re out of school,’ Fetterman told the Free Press. ‘That’s four days I can spend with my children.’

Fetterman was one of Biden’s biggest defenders as the walls began to close in after his debate with Trump. But he has vastly differing views from Kamala Harris over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Former President Donald Trump continued in his effort to tie Kamala Harris to communism as she kicks off the Democratic convention, a day after a pair of national CBS and ABC polls showed her holding a narrow national polling lead.

Trump continued to brand her as ‘Comrade Kamala Harris,’ an attack he rolled out days ago, and pointed to her father, a Jamaica-born Marxist who taught at Stanford University. It follows Harris’ vow to cut down on what she called ‘price gouging’ on food.

‘The Radical Left protesters in Chicago are going after the Democrat Party because the [sic] know they are weak and ready to break into a full blown party of Socialism or, if they really do their job, and with a little bit of luck, the Communist Party of the United States of America. They are already very close and, having a Marxist trained and believing President whose father is a Marxist professor, Comrade Kamala Harris, stranger things have happened!’ Trump posted on Truth Social.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in Chicago, Illinois

Pete Buttigieg spoke with Nevada delegates at a breakfast on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention on Monday.

The Transportation Secretary took aim at Donald Trump and urged Democrats to continue to ‘cancel’ the former president.

Everytime you look at the news it was punching you in the face, and it was exhausting. That’s why the American people canceled the Donald Trump Show four, five years ago.

The last thing we want is a rerun, or even worse a sequel. If you weren’t a fan of Trump-Pence, you really won’t be a fan of Trump-Vance.

More than 4,600 delegates from across the U.S. are gathering in Chicago this week.  They come from all walks of life and professions.

Nearly 700 of the delegates are attending a Democratic National Convention for the first time.

The youngest delegate is Isaac Winkler who will turn 18 just three days before the election.

The oldest delegate, though not in Chicago, is former President Jimmy Carter at 99-years-old.

Polly Baca from Colorado has attended every Democratic convention since 1964.

30 percent of delegates self-identify as black, 17 percent identify as Hispanic, 17 percent ID as LGBTQ+ and 21 percent are under the age of 36.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in Chicago, Illinois

Secretary Deb Haaland keeps Donald Trump’s name out of her remarks at a breakfast with Nevada Democratic delegates on Monday.

The Interior chief garnered enthusiasm by vowing Democrats won’t let the country ‘go back’ to the ‘fear’ felt under the former administration.

Jill Biden still feels the sting of ‘betrayal’ from Democrats who privately offered support for her husband – and then publicly called for him to exit the presidential race – but the first lady is now looking forward, those close to her say.

She was at the president’s side in Wilmington, Delaware, on that fateful day he decided to exit the presidential race after a relentless pressure campaign from party colleagues.

In fact, when he called Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday, July 21, to inform her of his decision, he put the first lady on the phone.

‘We love you,’ she told Harris, a source familiar with the conversation said. She also called Doug Emhoff, who she is close to.

She will address the Democratic National Convention on Monday night, before her husband gives his bittersweet send-off speech and formally hands the baton to Harris.

Hundreds of police and pro-Palestine protesters have descended on Chicago as the Democratic National Convention kicks off.

Downtown has both been overwhelmed with cops – some heavily armed – who have been patrolling the streets, and protesters fighting to be heard.

‘This is the most that we’ll ever see in one setting, which is crazy, but I feel like it’s a good reason that it’s a lot of police out here, because there’s so many people just in one area,’ Chicago local Ayanna Tucker told DailyMail.com

Very few Donald Trump supporters showed up, but large, organized pro-Palestine rallies started on Sunday and are expected to continue all week.

Activists already caused a scene at a welcome event for DNC delegates at the Navy Pier’s grand ballroom, having sneaked in earlier.

One woman wearing a mask ran on to the stage and shouted about genocide while a handful of other infiltrators yelled ‘free, free Palestine’.

With just 77 days before the election, House Republicans released a sprawling new report that they claim proves President Joe Biden, 81, committed ‘impeachable offenses.’

The nearly 300-page report compiled Republican findings over the last two years about the Biden family allegedly profiting off the president’s son Hunter and brother James Biden’s shady business deals by over $27 million through ‘influence peddling.’

It also details claims that the Justice Department slow-walked federal probes into Hunter for gun and tax crimes.

‘Overwhelming evidence demonstrates that President Biden participated in a conspiracy to monetize his office of public trust to enrich his family,’ reads the report, published hours before Biden is set to address the Democratic National Convention.

Democrats are tearing into the ‘sham’ Republican-led impeachment report, saying its a futile effort to try and distract Americans from Kamala Harris’ growing momentum with just 77 days before the election.

House Republicans released a sprawling new report Monday that they claim proves President Joe Biden, 81, committed ‘impeachable offenses.’

Former Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., staffer Jimmy Williams called it a ‘sham’ report published on Day One of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

‘THIS is how you idiots think you’re going to steal Harris’ thunder? Soooooo JV. Lame can’t even describe this move,’ he wrote on X.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in Chicago, Illinois

After an absolute shake-up of the landscape of the 2024 presidential election in the last month, Democrats are finally convening to make their candidate official.

The Democratic National Committee in Chicago, Illinois is a vastly different Convention than it was planning to host just a month ago as delegates prepare to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris by the end of the week instead of President Joe Biden.

In June, Biden was still the candidate Democrats were prepared to nominate. But in early July, doubts started to swirl over whether the 81-year-old would actually be put up after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.

On July 21, the President officially ended his reelection bid and endorsed Harris. A day later, she earned the support of enough delegates to become the presumed candidate for November.

Now, Democratic delegates are prepared to end this week by nominating Harris as their 2024 presidential candidate with running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the vice president.

Guests will also be confronted with the Democrats’ fervent reproductive rights push.

Free vasectomies and abortions will be available to attendees and an 18-foot-tall inflatable intrauterine device, or IUD, named ‘Freeda Womb’ will be erected on site.

There will be a Veep for the veep, as well as an assortment of other celebrities traveling to Chicago to support Vice President Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention, which starts Monday.

Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus is among the Hollywood types coming to town – for a convention that is expected to be more star-studded than the Republicans’ gathering in Milwaukee last month that attracted Kid Rock and Hulk Hogan.

The Creative Coalition, an arts advocacy group that has sent a delegation of actors and actresses to every political convention since 1996, is sending its biggest group yet to Chicago.

Harris’ ascendance to the Democratic nomination has ‘absolutely’ increased interest in this year’s convention, Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk told DailyMail.com. ‘Where we had a smaller delegation, it’s grown to our biggest delegation in history,’ Bronk said.

Donald Trump’s political director has suggested there are ‘rumors’ that Kamala Harris has a ‘serious drinking problem.’

There is not evidence to substantiate the claim.

James Blair, political director of the Trump 2024 campaign, wrote on X:

A lot of rumors out there about Kamala having a serious drinking problem…apparently coming into focus as campaign heats up. Stay Tuned…

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