The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to kick off in Chicago on August 19. And while Joe Biden was once slated to be the keynote speaker to close out the festivities on Thursday night after accepting the Democrat nomination for president, the commander in chief has now reportedly been relegated to a night one slot after suspending his 2024 campaign.
On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Batya Ungar-Sargon, author of Second Class, to discuss the schedule and how it fits into the larger “ritual humiliation” Biden has faced from former allies and colleagues.
The DNC Schedule
As the incumbent seeking reelection, the DNC was supposed to Biden’s convention and now he appears to have been demoted to a supporting role. Three sources familiar with the planning told CNN the 81 year old will deliver a primetime speech on the opening night “and then he’ll turn the keys over” for the remainder of the week.
The more prestigious time slots for A-list speakers usually come later in the convention, with the vice presidential nominee typically delivering remarks on Wednesday evening before the presidential nominee takes the stage Thursday night.
Having an incumbent president speak on Monday is not without precedent, but the circumstances surrounding this particular election certainly are. CNN noted that outgoing President Bill Clinton gave the opening night keynote in 2000, using his time to recap his eight years in office before officially passing the torch to Al Gore.
But unlike Clinton, who was nearing the end of his second term and unable to run again, Biden was unceremoniously forced out of the 2024 race by members of his own party after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump in June.
The sources indicated that, while the schedule is still in flux, Clinton and former President Barack Obama are tentatively set to take the podium on Tuesday, while former first ladies Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton are also in talks to speak.
‘The Ritual Humiliation’
Megyn said there is only one way to read the report: Biden is being given the short shrift. “Night one is fine if you are a friend or a surrogate for the presidential nominee, but [not] if you are the sitting president whose… delegates – who will be voting for Kamala Harris – voted for him,” she explained. “This is not like a Bill Clinton or Barack Obama where they speak after eight years as they are going out.”
She believes it is yet another instance of the Democrat Party trying to distance itself from the incumbent. “It’s amazing to me that, to the end, they try to bury him, try to put him in the basement, and try to make us forget how infirm he is,” Megyn added.
In Ungar-Sargon’s view, it is part of the larger “ritual humiliation” and “ceaseless stabbing in the back” by Biden’s “closest friends” that has been underway since the debate. “You had this feeling like the Obamas and the Clooneys and the Pelosis of the world wanted him to humiliate himself as much as possible, just so they could get him off the ticket,” she explained. “This is a man who they have been friends with for 50 years, a man who they protected as long as they could keep from the American people the truth of his state of mind. I just can’t get over that.”
She believes there should be “outrage” from “average Democratic voters” over how the man they voted for in the primaries is being treated. “You can’t bring yourselves to give him a minute of time [on Thursday] during this whole yassification of Kamala Harris? Fine,” Ungar-Sargon said. “But couldn’t they have put him on, you know, Wednesday?”
Ultimately, she said Biden is taking the fall for the sins of his party. “This is a ritual humiliation of Joe Biden for the crime of exposing the Democratic elites for, number one, not believing in democracy… and, number two, for lying to the American people,” Ungar-Sargon concluded. “He exposed the media’s lies and perfidiousness by failing to mask his own state of mind better.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Ungar-Sargon by tuning in to episode 852 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.