Who has been the DNC’s most surprising speaker so far?

The most notable speeches so far this week at the Democratic National Convention have been from vice presidential candidate Tim Walz on Wednesday and the superstar duo of Barack and Michelle Obama, who delivered back-to-back haymakers on Tuesday night.

Barack Obama put it best when he said, “I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama.”

As The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis wrote, “He wasn’t kidding.”

The New York Times’ Peter Baker wrote, “But while the delegates loved Mr. Obama, they really loved Mrs. Obama. From the minute she entered to Stevie Wonder to the end when she introduced her husband, she had the hall wrapped in her hand. No wonder Mr. Obama did not want to go next. No wonder former President Donald J. Trump over the years has repeatedly expressed a feverish worry that the Democrats would turn to Mrs. Obama as their next nominee in some kind of bizarre conspiratorial plot.”

Both Obamas lauded Kamala Harris and painted a picture of hope for the future. But both also saved plenty of room to blast Trump, especially Michelle.

Michelle Obama once coined the phrase, “When they go low, we go high.” On Tuesday night, she put that phrase on pause.

In her most devastating takedown, Michelle Obama said, “For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people who happened to be Black.”

She later added, “I want to know, who’s going to tell him, who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs?’”

Michelle Obama’s speech might have been the highlight of the week so far for the Democrats — at least until Harris takes the stage tonight.

But there was one especially notable speech Tuesday night well before the Obamas took the stage. What made it notable wasn’t necessarily what was said — although there were strong moments — but who said it.

It was Stephanie Grisham, who was a White House press secretary when Donald Trump was president. Grisham’s nine months as press secretary were most famous — or infamous — for her never having a press conference from the briefing room. Not one.

After leaving the White House, Grisham went on to write a book — “I’ll Take Your Questions Now” — in 2021 that was highly critical of Trump. She continued to criticize the former president on Tuesday night at the DNC, saying, “He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth. He used to tell me, ‘It doesn’t matter what you say, Stephanie. Say it enough, and people will believe you.’”

Grisham said the reason she never gave a press conference during her time as press secretary was because she didn’t want to have to lie to the media.

During her DNC speech, Grisham said that Trump often mocked his supporters. “He calls them basement dwellers,” Grisham said.

Before she was press secretary, Grisham served as chief of staff for then-first lady Melania Trump. During the Jan. 6 insurrection, when she was press secretary, Grisham reached out via text to Melania Trump in hopes of lowering the violence. Grisham showed their text exchange during her DNC speech.

Grisham texted Melania Trump, “Do you want to tweet that peaceful protests are the right of every American, but here is no place for lawlessness & violence?”

Melania Trump replied with one word: “No.”

Later that day, Grisham resigned. She told MSNBC on Tuesday, “In fact, I had a resignation letter written out with some very specific points in it that I was ready to hand over at any moment. Jan. 6, of course, was my breaking point. And I was really proud that I was, well, the first in the administration to resign.”

In response to her speech, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung called Grisham a bunch of names, such as “stone-cold loser” and “liar and a fraud.”

She also is something else: an endorser of Kamala Harris for president.

Notable pieces as the Democratic National Convention continues in Chicago this week …

• The Washington Post’s Colby Itkowitz and Clara Ence Morse with “How Kamala Harris shifted Democrats’ message from ‘democracy’ to ‘freedom.’”
• For Politico, Lakshya Jain and Harrison Lavelle of Split Ticket, a data-driven election analysis website, with “We Dug Into the 2024 Polling Crosstabs. What We Found Was Stunning.”
• Peter Wehner, a contributing writer for The Atlantic, with “Did God Save Donald Trump?”
• Good stuff from The Associated Press’ David Bauder: “Your audience is filled with Republicans. The Democratic convention is underway. How to cover it?”
• The Washington Post’s Michael Scherer, Josh Dawsey and Meryl Kornfield with “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. moves closer to endorsing Trump.”
• Looking for a playlist from the DNC? The Washington Post’s Emma Grazado, Amy Nakamura and Maddie Driggers got you with “What’s playing at the DNC convention? Here’s the unofficial playlist.”

A late-night protest

 

CBS’s Stephen Colbert is taping his late-night talk show this week in Chicago, the host city of the DNC. On Tuesday night, Colbert’s interview with Democratic Congresswoman and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was interrupted by protests in the audience. At one point, an audience member could be heard yelling, “Free Palestine!”

Colbert stopped to acknowledge there was a protest in the crowd, saying, “There’s a protest going on right now. We’re going to go to commercial break but the subject is on Israel and Palestine and, if you’ll have a seat, we have to go to the commercial break, but when we come back I’ll ask the next question I had on that subject.”

What happened next was a master class by Colbert.

While on air, protesters continued to yell, especially after Pelosi said, “War has no role in a civilized society.”

Colbert then said to Pelosi, “As you can see from the continuing protests out here, that answer is unsatisfying to some people because they believe that the United States …”

As those in the audience continued to yell, Colbert looked at them and, without emotion, simply said, “Hold on one second” and then asked Pelosi if she would like to respond.

It certainly sounded chaotic. Pelosi said she couldn’t understand what the audience was saying. So Colbert passed along what was being said: “They’ve said the United States should not have any role in supplying Israel arms to kill the people of Gaza. That’s what they’re saying.”

The audience then applauded Colbert. Pelosi’s answer included saying, “Israel has a right to defend itself. And the hostages should be returned, but the other part of it that has been so major for all of us for many years is that there must be a two-state solution. You cannot have peace unless you have two states. Israel, a secure, democratic, Jewish state in the region and the Palestinians having their own secure country there as well.”

That didn’t stop the yelling, and Colbert, ever respectful, tried to maintain some semblance of control, but did say, “Please don’t interrupt my guest.”

Pelosi tried to lighten the mood by the end, saying, “Isn’t it great to be in Chicago?”

But back to Colbert. He treated Pelosi with respect. He treated the audience members with respect. And while he didn’t maintain absolute control, he did well enough that the show didn’t flip over the guardrail. Most importantly, everyone walked away with their dignity.

Mediaite’s Zachary Leeman has more, including video.

Woodruff clarifies remarks

Earlier this week, senior PBS correspondent Judy Woodruff said something on the air during the DNC that got some attention.

She said, “One thing the Harris campaign would love is if President Biden would bring home a cease-fire right now between Gaza and Israel, and we know that Secretary of State (Antony) Blinken is over there right now working with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu. The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the Prime Minister of Israel, urging him not to cut a deal right now, because it’s believed that would help the Harris campaign. So, I don’t know — who knows whether that will come about or not, but I have to think that the Harris campaign would like for President Biden to do what presidents do, which is work on that one.”

The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel’s prime minister's office said Trump had not spoken to Netanyahu about that topic.

Woodruff then took to social media Wednesday to clarify her remarks. She tweeted, “I want to clarify my remarks on the PBS News special on Monday night about the ongoing cease fire talks in the Middle East. As I said, this was not based on my original reporting; I was referring to reports I had read, in Axios and Reuters, about former President Trump having spoken to the Israeli Prime Minister. In the live TV moment, I repeated the story because I hadn't seen later reporting that both sides denied it. This was a mistake and I apologize for it.”

Woodruff is a pro, and she has built up too much equity in the business to make this more than it was — remarks that could’ve used a word or two of context. What it was not was a malicious mistake. And it is true that Axios previously reported that Trump and Netanyahu had discussed a Gaza hostage and cease-fire deal, although it later reported Netanyahu denied speaking to Trump about that.

FS1’s new lineup

With Skip Bayless out at Fox Sports 1, the network has revamped its daily lineup.

According to the New York Post’s Ryan Glasspiegel, a new morning show called “Breakfast Ball” will have former WFAN and current FS1 host Craig Carton, along with former NFL player Mark Schlereth and Danny Parkins, a Chicago radio host. That show will run from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Eastern.

Bayless’ old “Undisputed” show used to run in the mid-to-late morning. Now, the 10 to noon slot will feature a show called “The Facility,” with former NFL players Emmanuel Acho, LeSean McCoy, Chase Daniel and James Jones.

Colin Cowherd’s syndicated radio show, “The Herd,” will continue to be simulcast from noon to 3 p.m. “First Things First” with Nick Wright, Chris Broussard and Kevin Wildes will continue to air from 3 to 5 p.m.

“Speak” with Keyshawn Johnson, Paul Pierce and Joy Taylor will continue in its 5 p.m. slot.

Glasspiegel had one other interesting note. He reported that former ESPNer Michelle Beadle was in advanced talks to join the network’s daytime lineup but, Glasspiegel wrote, “sources said both sides got cold feet at the eleventh hour and decided not to proceed.”

As far as Bayless? No word on where, if anywhere, the 72-year-old TV hot-take veteran will end up.

Media tidbits

• My Poynter colleague Kristen Hare with “The Star Tribune isn’t the only local newspaper that’s growing.”
• Sunday afternoon’s WNBA game between the Seattle Storm and Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever averaged 2.2 million viewers, making it the most-watched WNBA game ever on ABC.
• The Athletic announced it is expanding its soccer coverage, which is called The Athletic FC. In the announcement, The New York Times, which owns The Athletic, said, “As we approach the 2026 World Cup, The Athletic is thrilled to announce the expansion of The Athletic FC franchise, offering its growing audience a dedicated home for all things soccer across editorial, audio, newsletters and video. Tailored specifically for fans in the U.S., the revamped FC universe will offer comprehensive, real-time coverage of soccer’s biggest teams, tournaments and storylines, ensuring that The Athletic’s domestic audience never misses a moment.”
• For the 12th consecutive season, country star Carrie Underwood will star and sing in the opening of NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”

Hot type

• The Associated Press’ Deepti Hajela with “She didn’t see her Black heritage in crossword puzzles. So she started publishing her own.”
• A few days old, but a fun list. The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney with “Hollywood’s 20 Best Political Movies, Ranked.”

More resources for journalists

• Public media journalists: Learn about our Digital Transformation Program.
• Try our free Grant Writing for Journalists self-directed course
• Lead With Influence is for leaders who manage big responsibilities but have no direct reports.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].