Thiessen compares virtual convention to SOTU response: 'There's not going to be an applause line'

close

Video

Marc Thiessen: What we will see at the Democratic National Convention

Marc Thiessen discusses the challenges Democrats will face on opening night of their convention

Democrats delivering remarks at this week's Democratic National Convention will face a different challenge from past election cycles, Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen told "Bill Hemmer Reports" Monday.

"This is the difference between -- we always talk about the difference between the State of the Union and the State of the Union response, right? [The] State of the Union has all of the pomp and circumstance and the response of the crowd and all the rest of it," said Thiessen, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush. "And then you have the State of the Union response where someone's talking into a TV camera. That's what we're going to see tonight and throughout the week.

"As a speech writer who spent a lot of time working on convention speeches and State of the Union addresses, one of the things you always do is you keep massaging the speech to get the applause line," Thiessen went on.

ARNON MISHKIN: HERE'S YOUR DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION SCORECARD AND A HANDY GUIDE TO WHAT TO WATCH FOR

"Well, there's not going to be an applause line because there's no applause -- because there's no crowd. So, writing speeches and giving speeches for this kind of a convention is quite a challenge."

This year's convention will largely be virtual due to concerns surrounding COVID-19. On Thursday, former Vice President Joe Biden is expected to formally accept his party's nomination for president.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Republican National Convention was initially scheduled to take place in Charlotte, then was moved to Jacksonville before being similarly derailed by the pandemic. President Trump is expected to give remarks accepting his renomination for president at the White House.

An RNC official told Fox News Monday that the GOP filed a permit to the National Mall and Memorial Parks for a fireworks display that would begin at 11:30 p.m. and end at approximately 11:35 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 27 — the final day of the 2020 GOP convention.