DNC vendors represent ‘the landscape of Chicago’ small businesses
(CHICAGO) — Glenn Charles Jr. grew up on Chicago’s South Side. This week, his business is the first Black-owned company to be contracted for Exposition Services at the Democratic National Convention.
Speaking to ABC News outside the United Center, Charles reflected on the journey to get here and what it means for him and his team — which doubled in size in preparation for the convention.
“Our name is on most of the signage around the property, right?” he asked. “So just walking in the building and seeing the Show Strategies brand next to a DNC sign, that for me is kind of a moment.”
The four-day convention is bringing thousands of visitors to the city, and officials expect it to have a $150 to $200 million impact on the local economy.
Christy George, the executive director of the DNC’s Chicago 2024 Host Committee, called it “an incredible opportunity to showcase what Chicago is made of.”
“And the heart of Chicago is our people and all of our small businesses,” she said.
The committee sought to include as many local vendors as possible, she said, holding outreach summits across the city and working hand in hand with businesses through the application process.
“On the worker front, it’s in the hundreds. On the vendor front, it’s in the tens,” she said.
Eight of the 17 major contracts were given to minority and women-owned businesses, the committee announced previously.
“What we resulted with was a really diverse set of vendors for a number of our prime contracts,” she told ABC News. “It really, truly is going to be the most inclusive convention in history.”
Brook Jay, the CEO of All Terrain Collective, said being selected by the DNC was a boon to her business.
“I think having the DNC on our resume can do nothing but good things for this company,” she said. “We’ve been around since 1998 and we’ve done some of the most incredible projects you can imagine. But this definitely has been a highlight, and I think it really has piqued our interest about doing more things in politics.”
Jay said her company, which does experiential marketing, partnered with another woman-owned business and a Latino-owned business.
“We are really a true representation of what the Chicago landscape looks like,” she said.
Both Jay and Charles said putting together an event as large in scale as the DNC was a challenge, but that it was also an opportunity for their businesses to learn and grow.
“This industry is underrepresented from people that look like me, and also people from the South and West sides of Chicago who may not know that the hospitality and convention industry is a thriving industry that you can make a really good living off of,” Charles said. “So I wanted to be the representative for those individuals and give them direct insights to something that they probably have never witnessed before.”
(PHILADELPHIA) — During the presidential debate Tuesday night, former President Donald Trump doubled down on the false claim that migrants from Haiti are stealing and eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump said.
These baseless rumors have spread widely online in recent days — amplified by right-wing politicians, including vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance — after a series of social media posts have gone viral claiming Haitian migrants were abducting people’s pets in order to eat them.
A spokesperson for the city of Springfield told ABC News these claims are false, and that there have been “no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals in the immigrant community.”
“Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes. Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic,” the spokesperson added.
According to the Springfield News-Sun, the Springfield Police Department has not received any reports of pets being stolen and eaten. The city even created a webpage debunking some of the claims.
Migrants have been drawn to the region because of low cost of living and work opportunities, the city says on its site. The city estimates there are around 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants living in the county, and that the rapid rise in population has strained housing, health care, and school resources. But the city also says that the migrants are in the country legally and that many are recipients of Temporary Protected Status from the federal government.
The false claim that immigrants are targeting people’s pets stemmed from a social media posting originally from a Springfield Facebook group that went viral, where the poster wrote that their neighbor’s daughter’s friend had lost her cat. The poster went on to make an unsubstantiated claim of Haitians allegedly taking the cat for food.
The post was picked up by people on social media, including rightwing activist Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA and Elon Musk.
One of the most prominent images circulating online, which depicts a man holding a dead goose, was taken two months ago not in Springfield, but in Columbus, Ohio. The resident who took the photo told ABC News he was surprised to see his image used to “push false narratives.”
Prominent Republicans have boosted this falsehood on social media. An AI-generated image, which showed Trump holding cats and ducks, was shared by the House Judiciary GOP account on X.
Vance, in particular, has magnified the debunked claim.
In a post on X, Vance published a video of himself at a July Senate Banking Committee hearing, reading a letter from Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck about the city’s challenges in keeping up with housing for the growing Haitian immigrant population.
In the post, Vance pushed the false claim that Haitian immigrants are kidnapping and eating people’s pets in Springfield.
“Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio,” Vance wrote on X. “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?” he asked, a term that Republicans have attempted to tag Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris with, although she has denied holding that role.
(JACKSONVILLE, FL) — There’s a political storm brewing on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, just outside of Jacksonville.
A voter guide falsely purporting to show a slate of endorsements by the local Republican party hit mailboxes in St. John’s County, sowing confusion just as the primary was about to kick off this month.
The latest salvo in what many say is already an overheated election cycle, the incident has brought attention to an intra-party slugfest being waged inside the local GOP, amid a fight for the future of how — and how fast — development should proceed in the area around historic St. Augustine.
“I saw the card, and I’m like, this is a real issue,” St. John’s County GOP Chair Denver Cook told ABC News. “I was in shock. I’m dealing with one of probably the most flagrant frauds on voters — the day before early voting. It became an instant train wreck.”
On the eve of the first ballots being cast last Friday, as the mysterious mailers began spreading, Cook said his phone began blowing up with perplexed messages.
According to Cook, the glossy handout had a thickness, color scheme and font like the official voter guides put out by the local Republican party in June. And though it purported to be the “official 2024 membership-approved endorsements” of the county Republican party, it had a very different list of candidates from the ones the party had announced support for.
The new mailers also lacked any legal disclaimers explaining who paid for them, Cook said. And in pictures of the envelope that one of the fake mailers came in, which were reviewed by ABC News, the postmark was dated Aug. 7 — timed to arrive just in time for Aug. 10th’s early voting.
Cook, who is also running for St. John’s clerk of courts and comptroller, didn’t know how widely the phony cards were sent, but one thing was clear: In this predominantly Republican area, whoever won the primary would likely be the victor in November.
“That’s why there’s such a fight,” Diane Scherff, president of local political action committee “Trump Club of St. John’s County” said.
“It is the battle for the soul of St John’s County,” said Scherff, whose PAC endorsed a list of candidates in the spring that bucks the local GOP’s.
So, the urgent question: Where did this pamphlet come from?
‘I wish I knew’
“I never thought anyone would go that far in the dirty trick universe,” Cook told ABC News. “When we’re talking about tight races, any illegal mailer like this claiming to be from the county party could alter elections.”
Cook says he has asked law enforcement to investigate the fraudulent pamphlets — and that he would pursue legal action against those responsible.
“Whoever did this knows the rules,” Cook said. “There’s a level of sophistication to this that isn’t cheap.”
Florida’s Republican party chairman, Evan Power, said in a statement that they “are taking this matter very seriously and are investigating.”
“No Florida voter should be misled by anonymous, phony groups pretending to speak for the GOP,” Power said.
Long before the mailers appeared, the St. John’s primary had already stirred up bad blood over the question of who truly champions Republican policies and principles. At issue: the speed of local land development in one of the nation’s fastest-growing and most influential areas, awash in campaign cash and high-dollar real estate deals.
Some local party Republicans criticize others for being in developers’ pockets; the other Republicans say their opponents are faux-conservative and accuse them of being Democrats in GOP clothing.
“Our local party has been taken over by Democrats, and Republicans using Democrats help to take a shortcut,” said Jamie Parham, vice chair of the St. John’s GOP board of directors. “If they’re MAGA, they should be supporting the people that Trump supports.”
Cook pushes back against jabs like that.
“I am a Republican, I support President Trump’s campaign, I have supported his past campaigns, and as chair of the St. John’s County GOP I continue to fight for the platform of our party,” he said.
While local party officials had thrown their weight behind a slate of candidates that included several challengers to the current incumbents, the Trump Club of St. John’s mostly endorsed the incumbent candidates.
Then Trump himself, in an early morning Truth Social post last week, endorsed three incumbent county commission members from the Trump Club’s list.
It was recognition that Scherff said she’d been seeking for years.
“I was so happy, after all the work I’ve done,” said Scherff. “I thought that would be all we needed.”
But the fake voter guides, printed with the official GOP banner, threw the race into turmoil: The guide’s endorsements were nearly identical to the slate of candidates endorsed by groups like the Trump Club.
Scherff said the resulting controversy enveloped the race — and that she had no idea where the bogus guides came from.
“I wish I knew, because then I could say to people, stop blaming me,” she said, worrying that the controversy has cast doubt on Trump’s support and undermined any momentum her group had.
“It’s been taken away,” she said. “As quick as I got it, it’s gone.”
On Saturday, the last day of early voting, Trump reiterated his support for the same candidates in another Truth Social post.
‘Freedom to speak out’
The back-and-forth has grown so contentious that at one point a sitting county commissioner faced criminal prosecution for raising the upcoming election at a meeting.
Krista Joseph, the county commissioner for St. John’s District 4, describes herself as an often-lone dissenting voice on the five-person governing body.
“I’m definitely a thorn in their side. I’ve voted with them when I think it’s right, but I don’t look at this as winning and losing. I’m representing,” Joseph said. “It’s not that I’m anti-development; I’m anti what they’re doing to develop.”
Joseph is not up for reelection this year — but last November, at a commissioners’ board meeting, she wanted to remind everyone who was.
Joseph told members of the public that if they’re “sick of the traffic” and “overcrowding in schools” and if they’re concerned that that “developers are controlling the boards,” they had a choice coming up.
“There’s hope,” Joseph said from the dais. “Less than nine months, we have an election.”
Several commissioners whose seats would be up were sitting with Joseph as she spoke.
In a 4-1 vote less than a month later, the board censured Joseph, led by two of the incumbents who would go on to seek reelection — both of whom would be endorsed by the Trump Club, and Trump.
Outside counsel decided Joseph had violated election law by speaking out during a meeting, and noted the matter could be referred to local prosecutors for possible criminal charges, according to court documents.
After a monthslong legal battle, U.S. District Judge Harvey Schlesinger ruled in Joseph’s favor, finding her First Amendment right to free speech was protected, even at a county meeting.
“Simply because a person is an elected official, such as a County Commissioner, this rightful freedom to speak out so as to inform the electorate cannot be restricted,” Judge Schlesinger wrote in his July 10 decision granting a preliminary injunction. “The threatened prosecution is chilling Commissioner Joseph’s political speech in the last months of the primary election when this speech is most meaningful.”
‘Different factions’
“The local Republican party has been splitting off into different factions,” explains incumbent commissioner Christian Whitehurst.
Whitehurst, who has been endorsed for reelection by the Trump Club and the former president, said he wants to make sure local government can keep up with all the development.
“It’s virtually impossible to stop all the growth,” Whitehurst said. “We have a lot of people moving into not just St. John’s County but the state of Florida. Of course with the sharp increase in growth comes the challenge to keep up in terms of infrastructure and services.”
His primary challenger, Ann-Marie Evans — who was endorsed by the local GOP — criticizes Whitehurst on her campaign website as overseeing “the most overdeveloped area” and “STILL approving new homes by the thousands.”
“I am not opposed to all growth; I am opposed to exponential growth that does not keep pace with the need for infrastructure,” Evans’ site says.
Whitehurst says characterizing him as in cahoots with developers is unfair. “We have voted to deny many projects,” he said.
Whitehurst said he does not know who was behind the fake voter guides, and condemned “any attempt to mislead anybody.”
Parham, of the St. John’s GOP board, said it wouldn’t make sense for the current officeholders to be involved.
“It doesn’t benefit the incumbents if they sent it, because then they’re the bad guy for committing election fraud,” he said.
But Parham also decries the official endorsements made by his own local party.
“The Republican Party should not endorse candidates in the primary,” Parham said. “As a voter, you should figure out which group you most identify with, and that should be your voter guide.”
ABC News’ Will Steakin and Soo Rin Kim contributed to this report.
(CHICAGO) — Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago has wrapped.
Here’s a look at some of the key moments in a night that saw highly-anticipated prime-time speeches from Barack and Michelle Obama and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, along with a few surprise guests:
Barack Obama passes the torch
Former President Barack Obama delivered the keynote speech a day after the DNC saw an emotional tribute to his vice president, President Joe Biden.
“Now the torch has been passed,” Obama said, turning to Harris’ candidacy and her campaign against former President Donald Trump.
“Now it is up to all of us to fight for the America we believe in,” he added. “And make no mistake, it will be a fight.”
Obama went on to slam Trump as a “78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rose down his golden escalator.”
“As we gather here tonight, the people who will decide this election are asking a very simple question: Who will fight for me? Who’s thinking about my future, about my children’s future, about our future together?” he asked. “One thing is for certain, Donald Trump is not losing sleep over that question.”
After more than 30 minutes on stage, Obama had a simple message for convention-goers.
“As much as any policy or program, I believe that’s what we yearn for, a return to an America where we work together and look out for each other,” Obama said.
“That is what this election is about,” he added.
Michelle Obama: ‘We cannot get a Goldilocks complex’
Former first lady Michelle Obama was greeted with an enthusiastic standing ovation as she took the stage as the penultimate speaker.
She said until recently she had mourned the “dimming” of hope felt in the country following the recent developments in the country and the loss of her mother.
However, she said she recently felt it spreading again.
“America, hope is making a comeback,” she said.
She took subtle but biting jabs at Trump, contrasting his past scandals with Harris’ years of accomplishment.
“She understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward we will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth,” she said.
“If we bankrupt a business or choke in a crisis, we don’t get a second, third, or fourth chance,” she added.
In her closing remarks, she warned that a handful of votes in select states would decide the election and pushed Americans to come out to the polls.
“So, we need to vote in numbers that erase any doubt we need to overwhelm any effort to suppress us. Our fate is in our hands,” she said.
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff gets personal
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff reintroduced himself to America in a personal, down-to-earth speech as Harris makes a historic bid for the White House that, if elected, would make him the first-ever first gentleman.
He talked about having a “typical suburban childhood” and his fantasy football league that’s named after the band Nirvana. He touched on major life moments: going to law school, becoming a father to son Cole and daughter Ella, getting divorced and then getting set up on a blind date with Harris.
On his wife, he said she “finds joy in pursuing justice.”
“She stands up to bullies — just like my parents taught me to. She likes to see people do well — and hates when they’re treated unfairly. She believes this work requires a basic curiosity in how people are doing. Her empathy is her strength,” he said.
He talked about Harris coming to synagogue with him and making a “mean brisket for Passover.” He said Harris encouraged him as second gentleman to fight against antisemitism.
“Kamala is a joyful warrior,” he said. “It’s doing for her country what she has always done for the people she loves. Her passion will benefit all of us when she’s our president.”
Angela Alsobrooks puts spotlight on key Senate race
Democrats picked Angela Alsobrooks to give a lengthier speech than others as she runs for Senate in Maryland, a race once considered sleepy. But with popular former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan as the GOP nominee, the race is more competitive, and Democrats are desperate to keep the seat of outgoing Sen. Ben Cardin in their column.
Alsobrooks spoke about her friendship with Harris and how she looked up to her as a mentor.
Alsobrooks said when she ran for state’s attorney in 2009, she discovered Harris’ work as district attorney piloting a program to help low-level offenders get job training, GED help and more.
“After reading about this super-bad district attorney, I talked non-stop about her on the campaign trail,” she said. “Two days after I won the election, my phone rings. It’s Kamala Harris, calling to congratulate me and ask how she could help. She helped me bring Back on Track to Maryland. Crime went down, and economic growth went up. Back on Track is now a national model.”
Alsobrooks went on to tout Harris’ prosecutorial record against big banks, gangs and more.
“Kamala Harris knows how to keep criminals off the streets,” she said. “And come November, with our help, she’ll keep one out of the Oval Office.”
Illinois Gov. Pritzker on ‘weird’ GOP
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker repeated comments made by Democrats calling Trump and other Republicans “weird” over their rhetoric and actions.
He took the sentiment further, citing instances when Black or brown-skinned Americans are “derided as a DEI hire for the sin of being successful while not white.”
“Let’s be clear, it’s not ‘woke’ that limits economic growth, it’s ‘weird,'” the governor said.
“These guys aren’t just weird, they’re dangerous,” Pritzker added.
The “weird” labeling of Republicans was first adopted by Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and used widely as a tactic to label the party’s platforms and attacks.
Former Trump official touts Harris
The DNC is highlighting several former supporters of former President Donald Trump this week, including everyday Americans who previously voted for him who are now backing Harris.
But Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary, was the first of several former Trump officials slated to speak at the convention. She described herself not only as a former supporter of Trump but as a “true believer” who has since changed her tune.
“He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth,” she said of Trump.
“When I was press secretary, I got skewered for never holding a White House briefing,” Grisham added. “It’s because, unlike my boss, I never wanted to stand at that podium and lie. Now, here I am behind a podium advocating for a Democrat. And that’s because I love my country more than my party.”
Festive ceremonial roll call
A lively ceremonial roll call before the prime-time slot got the crowd energized as delegates cast their votes for Harris while songs from artists from each state blared through the arena.
The roll call featured some surprise cameos alongside more expected political leaders from their respective states, including rapper Lil Jon (Georgia) actor Sean Astin (Indiana), director Spike Lee (New York) and actress Eva Longoria (Texas).
The roll call ended with Harris addressing the crowd from a rally in Milwaukee and thanking the delegates for nominating her as the Democratic presidential nominee.
“This is a people-powered campaign, and together we will chart a new way forward,” she said.