CNN analyst Bakari Sellers dismissed a report claiming that the Democratic National Convention (DNC) committed a “cardinal sin” by delaying President Biden’s speech until late Monday night due to scheduling issues. New York Times reporter Peter Baker had noted, “But the Democrats jumbled their homage plan with a slate of speeches that went so long that Mr. Biden was pushed out of prime time on the East Coast. He did not begin his own address until about 11:30 p.m. in Washington, a cardinal sin in modern convention planning.” Baker also mentioned that “Democrats were so far behind schedule that they had to scrap a video tribute to the outgoing president.”
However, on CNN Tuesday morning, Sellers criticized Baker’s report, saying, “It’s weird to me that people who are so smart and so good at their jobs just mess up so glaringly.” Sellers added, “Peter misses the simple fact that these speeches live online forever, there are clips that are playing on social media and TikTok. They’re not traditional means and methods by which people consume these speeches anymore.”
“Just because you give a speech at 11:30 does not mean… this is not 1940 where people have to gather around the radio, Peter, and actually listen to it,” he continued.
Biden delivered his speech at the DNC on Monday night, approximately four weeks after ending his White House re-election bid and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. His address didn’t conclude until after midnight Eastern Time. Critics had chastised the DNC for the delay, viewing it as another sign of “disrespect” to the president.
DNC convention officials told Fox News Digital in an earlier statement that Biden’s speech was delayed due to overwhelming applause for preceding speakers. “Because of the raucous applause interrupting speaker after speaker, we ultimately skipped elements of our program to ensure we could get to President Biden as quickly as possible so that he could speak directly to the American people,” the officials explained. “We are proud of the electric atmosphere in our convention hall and proud that our convention is showcasing the broad and diverse coalition behind the Harris-Walz ticket throughout the week on and off the stage.”
