CHICAGO — The first day of the Democratic National Convention gaveled in as anti-Israel protesters broke through a security gate and the press grumbled about Vice President Kamala Harris’s DNC limiting press seating at the United Center as TikTokkers got a shiny platform.
President Joe Biden was the headliner speaker on Monday as he passed the baton to Harris, with breakout speeches from 2016 Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Here are some of the sights and scenes from the first day of the DNC.
Pro-Gaza protesters break through perimeter
Pro-Palestinian protesters breached the DNC perimeter on the first day of proceedings.
Official business inside the convention hall was delayed, in part, because delegate buses were prevented from reaching the United Center in Chicago on Monday.
RFK Jr. support
Supporters of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may not have been as loud as the pro-Gaza and pro-Palestinian protesters, but they were still a vocal presence.
“Let Bobby debate!” one relatively small group chanted outside McCormick Place.
Gender-neutral bathrooms
The Democratic Party has made the protection of LGBT rights key to its values and mentions “transgender” eight times in its newly approved party platform.
At the convention, “gender neutral” bathroom signs were aplenty at the United Center and the Advocate Center, the normal training facility for the Chicago Bulls, which was transformed into a press-filing center.
Jeffries aide shuts down Fox News
While speeches at the DNC are happening, reporters often approach attendees on the United Center floor to ask questions. During Sen. Raphael Warnock’s (D-GA) speech, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy attempted to do that with a top member of Congress.
When Doocy saw House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), he told his cameraman he was going to make an attempt. But a member of Jeffries’s entourage spotted what was unfolding from a distance. The Jeffries aide immediately put a stop to an incoming question.
He shook his head at Doocy and mouthed “no” several times. Throughout the entire interaction, Jeffries remained solely focused on Warnock’s speech.
California dreaming from inside the arena
California delegates had prime real estate in the United Center, with front-row seating in honor of Harris’s home state.
Meanwhile, Washington delegates donned “Cowboy Kamala” sashes, an ode to Beyonce’s most recent studio album, Cowboy Carter. Their Maryland counterparts had crab headbands on.
Harris, Ocasio-Cortez, and Clinton received the rowdiest receptions of the night.
‘DemPalooza’
There were also “DemPalooza” expo stations in McCormick Place for people to get their nails painted and create friendship bracelets, in addition to booths about liberal groups and causes.
A big draw at DemPalooza was the “Coconut Club” backdrop, at which delegates grabbed plenty of pictures, in a nod to a memed-tale Harris’s mother told her about people falling out of a coconut tree.
Iowa delegate Kim Callahan fit right in with a “coconut army” T-shirt.
“The energy around it is awesome. People love the coconut thing,” Callahan said. “And we’ve all had moms that have said those kinds of things to us growing up, that we remember, that we repeat to our kids, too. And so I just think it’s this beautiful thing that’s part of her campaign, and people are responding to it.”
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Celebrity sightings
Filmmaker Spike Lee was spotted going through security after having an in-depth conversation with one of the only Trump supporters outside the United Center convention perimeter.
Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of John and Jackie Kennedy, was also seen outside the New York delegation breakfast in the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk.
