Besides running so behind schedule that most people on the East Coast are in bed before the last speakers take the stage, one thing that has stood out about the 2024 Democratic National Convention more than anything has been the overt effort to cast the gathering as patriotic.

For years, the Democratic Party has struggled with a perception that the party is unpatriotic and condemns the nation’s founding and ideals as racist and oppressive while blurring the distinctions between the United States and other nations. In 2020, members of the party famously bent their knee at the altar of “institutional racism” and pushed for the removal of statues of prominent figures in history, including Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. In fact, this year, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson tried to remove a statue of George Washington from city hall before later backtracking.