Tim Walz, Oprah and Bill Clinton deliver the biggest moments on ...
Kamala Harris's running mate Tim Walz has made his big debut on day three of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Walz, virtually unknown just weeks ago, delivered a prime-time address in which he slammed Republican challenger Donald Trump, talked about his struggles with infertility, and called for Americans to embrace tolerance and inclusion.
Media mogul Oprah Winfrey also made a surprise appearance at the DNC after she was snuck into the convention hall in sunglasses and a face mask.
And Bill Clinton and Nancy Pelosi both expressed their joy at witnessing younger Democrats take control of the party they once controlled.
These were the big moments from inside the convention hall.
Tim Walz gets his big momentA few weeks ago, hardly anyone outside Minnesota knew the name Tim Walz.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz takes the stage on day three of the Democratic National Convention. (Reuters: Brendan Mcdermid)
Now, he has accepted the nomination to be Kamala Harris's running mate at the Democratic National Convention.
The Harris campaign is clearly hoping the Governor of Minnesota, who is an enthusiastic hunter and former public school teacher, will help her in parts of the country that might be sceptical about a woman in the White House.
Walz, who had two children with his wife Gwen with the help of fertility treatments, used his speech to decry the actions of some Republicans to restrict access to abortion and IVF.
"In Minnesota, we respect our neighbours and the personal choices they make, and even if we wouldn't make those same choices for ourselves, we've got a golden rule: mind your own damn business, and that includes IVF and fertility treatments," he said.
Walz, a former high school football coach, reached for a sports metaphor as he wrapped up his speech.
"It's the fourth quarter. We're down a field goal, but we're on offence and we've got the ball," he said.
"We're driving down the field, and boy do we have the right team. Kamala Harris is tough, Kamala Harris is experienced, and Kamala Harris is ready."
Clinton rips up his speech, rewrites it, and then freestylesFormer US president Bill Clinton reportedly tore up the first draft of his speech after watching day one of the convention, with his aides saying he decided it needed more "joy" and "poetry" to meet the moment.
In the end, true to form, he appeared to go off-script anyway, largely ignoring the teleprompter in the second half of his speech.
Bill Clinton paid tribute to the "joy" Kamala Harris has brought back to the Democratic party. (AP: Erin Hooley)
But he had some zingers prepared.
And he stuck with the attack line that's been central to the Democrats' message through the convention: that Trump only wants to be president to serve himself.
"He's like one of those tenors opening up before he walks out on stage, like I did, trying to get his lungs open by singing 'me, me, me, me, me'," Clinton said.
"When Kamala Harris is president, every day will begin with you, you, you, you."
Age is no longer a taboo topic for Democrats.
Clinton — who said his first convention was in 1976 before realising it was four years earlier and correcting himself — was more than willing to go there.
Former US President Bill Clinton was back in his element — in front of an applauding crowd. (Reuters: Brendan Mcdermid)
"Two days ago, I turned 78. The oldest man in my family of four generations," he said.
"And the only personal vanity I want to assert is I'm still younger than Donald Trump."
But, like the Obamas on Wednesday, he warned against complacency.
"We've seen more than one election slip away from us when we thought it couldn't happen," he said.
Oprah sneaks in to bring down the houseWhispers of a surprise Oprah Winfrey appearance started whipping through the convention hall early in the day.
She'd tried to keep her presence under wraps by wearing a hat, sunglasses and face mask during rehearsal, her best friend Gayle King reported on CBS.
When she finally came out on the stage, she was met with thunderous applause.
The media mogul's political endorsement is hugely powerful in America.
Oprah Winfrey's endorsement is potent in US politics. (Reuters: Mike Segar)
When she backed Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton in 2008, she helped put him on the television screens of middle-class American voters around the country.
On Thursday night, Winfrey offered Harris her enthusiastic endorsement.
And she delivered a prime-time message, with all her usual talk-show host charisma, that was designed to reach beyond rusted-on Democrats and persuade undecided voters.
"There's a certain candidate that says if we just go to the polls this one time, that we'll never have to do it again," she said.
"Well, you know what you're looking at? A registered independent [voter] who's proud to vote again and again and again, because I'm an American, and that's what Americans do."
She did not mention Trump by name, but said Americans were "beyond ridiculous tweets and lies and foolery", and were not as divided as some people would have them think.
"When a house is on fire, we don't ask about the home owner's race or religion. We don't wonder who their partner is or how they voted.
"No, we just try to do the best we can to save them."
And, in a reference to resurfaced 2021 comments made by Trump's running mate JD Vance, she added: "if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady, well, we try to get that cat out too."
If it weren't for Nancy Pelosi, this might have been a very different Democratic National Convention.
While President Joe Biden's decision to step aside in the wake of his disastrous debate against Trump came after weeks of party pressure and relentless media coverage, Pelosi is believed to have played a key role behind the scenes.
The former house speaker and party elder reportedly made clear to Biden "that they could do this the easy way or the hard way" in the days before he made way for Harris.
When asked by CNN if her manoeuvring has left any "residual bad blood," between her and Biden, she laughed it off.
"Sometimes you just have to take a punch for the children," she said.
But when she walked onto the stage to huge applause, you would never know the weeks of turmoil that preceded this convention.
"Thank you Joe! I know Kamala Harris will take us to new heights," she said before pivoting to a fiery warning about the insurrection on January 6, 2021.
Nancy Pelosi reportedly played a key role in pressuring Joe Biden to step aside for Kamala Harris. (Reuters: Mike Segar)
Pelosi, like hundreds of other members of congress sheltered in safe rooms when Trump supporters broke into the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the outcome of the election.
"The parable of January 6 reminds us that our democracy is only as strong as the courage and commitment of those entrusted with its care, and we must choose leaders who believe in free and fair elections, who respect the peaceful transfer of power," she said.
"The choice couldn't be clearer."
Mayor Pete, a rising star of the party, calls out JD VancePete Buttigieg is considered a rising star of the Democratic party — and one of their best communicators — so it's no surprise he was reserved a prime-time slot on day three of the DNC.
The 42-year-old is Biden's transportation secretary and is father to twins with his husband, Chasten.
One of the few Democrats willing to go on the conservative network Fox News, he regularly goes viral for his effortless putdowns, spicy barbs and real-time fact checking.
"Here's a sentence I never thought myself saying," he said to open his speech.
"I'm Pete Buttigieg and you might recognise me from Fox News."
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg lashed out at JD Vance for his comments on family. (Reuters: Brendan Mcdermid)
But he used the rest of his address to talk about inclusion and tolerance.
As a gay man who started his family through the help of IVF and surrogacy, he hit out at Trump's running mate JD Vance for his previous comments on fertility and family.
"Don't even get me started on his new running mate. At least Mike Pence was polite. JD Vance is one of those guys who thinks if you don't live the life that he has in mind for you, then you don't count," he said.
"Someone who said that if you don't have kids, you have 'no physical commitment to the future of this country'. You know, senator, when I deployed to Afghanistan, I didn't have kids.
"Then, many of the men and women who tied the wire with me didn't have kids either, but let me tell you, our commitment to the future of this country was pretty damn physical."
Friday is the last day of the Democratic convention, with Kamala Harris slated to make her big speech to accept the nomination to run against Trump in November.
