As the newly minted leader of the Democratic Party, Joseph R. Biden Jr. plans to ride out of its national convention with a message for the fall campaign centered on compassion, linking his heart-rending biography of setback and recovery to the lives of Americans hoping for their own rebound in a season of hardships.
But looming over Mr. Biden’s long-sought presidential nomination on Thursday is the ever-present shadow of another man who’s poised to dominate the final 10 weeks of the campaign and use his considerable megaphone to drown out Mr. Biden’s pitch: Donald J. Trump.
The president, who spent the day attacking Mr. Biden in the swing state of Pennsylvania, has been the greatest unifying force at the Democratic convention, given that loathing him is the one thing that everyone in the fractious party can agree on.
Mr. Biden and the Democrats spent the week prosecuting arguments against him on Covid-19, unemployment, health care, child care, climate change, foreign policy and his fundamental fitness for the presidency — attacks that only presaged a fall campaign that, even when it features Mr. Biden, will be aimed entirely at drawing contrasts with the current occupant of the Oval Office, Democrats say.
In a sign of both confidence and prudence, Mr. Biden and his new running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, will not leave Delaware to embark on the traditional boat, bus or train tour of swing states as presidential tickets usually do, in part because they want to model safer behavior than Mr. Trump has in response to the coronavirus.
Even with the awkward limitations of a virtual convention, the programming of the last three nights has built steadily and more or less smoothly toward the unveiling of Joseph R. Biden Jr. as a president-in-waiting. It now falls to him to fill the political silhouette his party has gradually sketched.
In the 2020 campaign, Mr. Biden has seldom been the most eloquent advocate for his own cause. In the most important moments of his campaign, he has leaned heavily on other, more magnetic and fluid speakers: James E. Clyburn in the days before the South Carolina primary, and Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg before the Super Tuesday contests in March. He will have help again tonight, from allies who will address the audience before him, including Mr. Buttigieg, Andrew Yang and Senator Tammy Duckworth.
But if ever there were a moment for Mr. Biden to stand on his own, this is it. President Trump seems to have done his best this week to tee up a major political opportunity for his challenger, making admiring comments about believers in the conspiracy theory QAnon and calling for Americans to shun Goodyear, the Ohio tire company, because of its restrictions on political attire in the workplace. Mr. Biden’s critique of the president appears as salient as ever — he just has to deliver it.
Over his near half-century in public life, Mr. Biden has made good speeches, bad speeches, campaign kickoff speeches and concession speeches, speeches without proper attribution to original sources, speeches so impossibly Biden that no one could ever accuse him of lifting anything.
“No one ever doubts that I mean what I say,” Mr. Biden, 77, is fond of telling audiences. “The problem is, I sometimes say all that I mean.”
For tonight’s speech, he conferred with family, friends, trusted strategists and others he admires, including Jon Meacham, the presidential historian, whose recent book “The Soul of America” has been echoed by Mr. Biden throughout his presidential bid.
The fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention will air tonight from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the M.C. There are several ways to watch:
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The Times will stream the full convention, with live analysis from our reporters and real-time highlights from the speeches. You can download our iOS or Android app and turn on notifications to be alerted when our live analysis starts.
Who’s speaking
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Senator Chris Coons of Delaware.
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Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta.
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Representative Deb Haaland of New Mexico.
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Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey.
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Dr. Vivek Murthy, the former surgeon general.
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Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.
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Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.
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Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind.
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Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York.
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Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic presidential nominee. He will be introduced by his son, Hunter, and his daughter, Ashley.
Olivia Pope and Selina Meyer are used to finding themselves on the political stage. Gaby Solis and Rainbow Johnson not so much. Yet this week, all four — or at least, the actresses who have played them — have presided over the Democratic Party’s biggest political event of the year.
Celebrities have long been a fixture of politics, but never quite like this. During the Democratic National Convention, four women weren’t quite the leads, but perhaps the best supporting actresses.
The women — Eva Longoria, Kerry Washington, Tracee Ellis Ross and Julia Louis-Dreyfus — are all known for their activism, emerging as some of the most famous figures in the #Resistance movement to the Trump administration. They’re also familiar American faces, having all starred in long-running television shows.
Each night, the celebrities have guided the television audience through the program, introducing taped segments, montages and speakers from a soundstage in Los Angeles. After moving videos of victims of gun violence or the coronavirus, it has been the women helping television viewers process what they have seen.
“We fight for a more perfect union because we are fighting for the soul of this country and for the fight of our lives,” Ms. Washington said on Wednesday night.
Ms. Louis-Dreyfus is hosting on Thursday night. Of the four actresses, she has the closest relationship with Joseph R. Biden Jr. The two filmed a spoof video for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2014. When Ms. Louis-Dreyfus disclosed that she had breast cancer, in 2017, Mr. Biden tweeted his support. “We Veeps stick together. Jill and I, and all of the Bidens, are with you, Julia,” he wrote, referring to her starring role on HBO’s “Veep.”
Stephen Curry, one of the most popular players in the N.B.A., and his wife, the author and chef Ayesha Curry, will endorse Joseph R. Biden Jr. at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night.
The celebrity couple will appear in a pretaped video with their daughters, Riley, 8, and Ryan, 5, one of the highest-profile athlete appearances at a political convention for either party.
The endorsement was first reported by People Magazine.
“We want to ensure that our kids live in a nation that is safe, happy, healthy and fair, and so this election — ” Mrs. Curry says in a clip. Mr. Curry cuts in to say, “We’re voting for Joe Biden.”
Mr. Curry, a two-time Most Valuable Player Award winner, has kept in close touch with former President Barack Obama, under whom Mr. Biden served, since Mr. Obama left the White House in 2017. Mr. Obama and Mr. Curry appeared together last year at an event in Oakland, Calif., celebrating My Brother’s Keeper, the former president’s initiative aimed at closing the education gap for young Black men.
The endorsement is not necessarily a surprise, given that Mr. Curry has been a frequent critic of President Trump since he took office. Early on in Mr. Trump’s presidency, Mr. Curry publicly rebuked the chief executive of Under Armour, Kevin Plank, after Mr. Plank said the president was a “a real asset” to the country. Mr. Curry, who has an endorsement deal with Under Armour, said in an interview with The San Jose Mercury News, “I agree with that description, if you remove the ‘et.’”
In fact, one of Mr. Trump’s early feuds in his presidency was with Mr. Curry, who had expressed reluctance about visiting the White House after the Golden State Warriors won the N.B.A. championship in 2017. In response, Mr. Trump rescinded the invitation.
“Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team,” Mr. Trump posted on Twitter that September. “Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!” LeBron James, another N.B.A. star who has endorsed Mr. Biden, chimed in on Twitter: “U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain’t going! So therefore ain’t no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!”
MSNBC has dominated ratings for this year’s Democratic National Convention, and its streak continued on Wednesday as it attracted 6.3 million viewers for a starry night that featured speeches by Senator Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama.
The evening marked the biggest live TV audience yet for the convention, with about 22.8 million Americans watching over all from 10 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., according to Nielsen.
MSNBC, which has carried the broadcast mostly unfiltered — with no interruptions for real-time analysis or commentary — said it recorded its highest-rated hour of convention coverage since the network began in 1996.
Television viewership Wednesday was down only slightly from the 24.4 million who watched the equivalent night in 2016. Earlier in the week viewership for the virtual convention had fallen by roughly a quarter. CNN had the biggest audience among younger viewers between ages 25 to 54.
The Nielsen ratings measure live television audiences, and do not reflect online or streaming views, which are difficult to credibly measure. Many Americans prefer to watch the convention and other live events online, but traditional TV networks still appeal to older voters that Democrats want to persuade.
President Trump will hold a funeral service for his younger brother, Robert, at the White House on Friday, three people familiar with the plans said.
The president is having his brother’s body driven from New York, where he died, to Washington, D.C., the people said.
The plans were first reported by ABC News.
Mr. Trump has invited roughly 200 friends and relatives to the service, which will be held in the East Room. The president is expected to pay for its costs himself, one person briefed on the matter said. Some White House officials are also expected to attend.
While presidents have died in the White House, and state funerals are held on Capitol Hill, it is rare for the remains of a president’s relative to be brought to the building where he resides.
Robert S. Trump died Saturday night at the age of 71.
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