Vice President Kamala Harris used her acceptance speech on the Democratic Nationwide Conference on Thursday to current herself as a realistic chief who can unite all Individuals behind a “new path ahead,” describing her opponent, former President Donald J. Trump, as a harmful and “unserious” man whose election would change the foundations of American democracy.
In a relaxed voice and a frank look, Ms. Harris, a former prosecutor, laid out the longest and most severe case she has ever made in opposition to Mr. Trump as a presidential candidate.
In every of her practically 40-minute talking turns, Harris warned that the previous president’s flamboyant habits hid a severe and substantial risk to Individuals, whether or not they’re in search of entry to reproductive well being care, involved concerning the safety and stability of diplomatic relations, or apprehensive concerning the movement of immigrants throughout the nation’s southern border or the well being of democracy.
“With this election, our nation has a valuable and fleeting alternative to maneuver past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive struggles of the previous,” she stated. “An opportunity to chart a brand new path ahead. Not as members of any explicit social gathering or faction, however as Individuals.”
Earlier than 1000’s of supporters gathered at Chicago’s United Heart, Harris acknowledged that her candidacy was not what her social gathering anticipated simply weeks in the past. However she instructed the group that she was no stranger to unbelievable journeys, describing herself because the daughter of an Indian scientist whose goals of a brand new life in america have been the catalyst for Harris’s authorized and political profession. Her mom, she stated wryly, taught her to “by no means do issues by halves.”
Though she did not point out it, Harris’ nomination is a significant step ahead: She is the primary Black girl and the primary particular person of South Asian descent to just accept the nomination of a significant social gathering. If elected, she would grow to be the primary feminine president within the nation’s historical past.
But Ms. Harris has not tried to promote her supporters on the concept of a presidency that will be very completely different from the one held for the previous three and a half years by President Biden, who as a candidate battled a leftward drift in his social gathering throughout the 2020 presidential race after which lured Ms. Harris onto the ticket.
Mr. Biden, 81, additionally promised to be a unifier at a time when the nation was deeply divided and reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. He, too, had lengthy embraced a “middle-down, middle-up” financial philosophy centered on defending American technological advances, limiting the rise of worldwide rivals and retraining employees.
On Thursday, Ms. Harris promoted insurance policies to enhance housing affordability, concepts that signify a gradual shift from these floated by Mr. Biden. However what’s completely different at present isn’t the insurance policies, however the candidate, a 59-year-old who took the stage to rapturous applause and promised to maneuver her social gathering ahead.
For weeks, Ms. Harris had approached the largest speech of her political profession realizing she must reintroduce herself to Individuals who could have recognized her solely because the vice chairman who got here out on prime of the ticket after Mr. Biden botched a debate and dropped out of workplace.
Harris’s speech contained probably the most detailed remarks on international coverage she has ever made as a presidential candidate. She offered herself as a decided and energetic chief and a defender of conventional alliances, in distinction to Mr. Trump’s choices primarily based on whims and appeasement of international autocrats, whereas declaring herself able to handle the disaster in Gaza that has undermined Mr. Biden’s reputation.
“I’m not going to cozy as much as tyrants and terrorists, like Kim Jong-un, who help Trump,” Harris stated at one level. (Trump, for his half, responded to the speech on his social media website, saying, “The tyrants are laughing at her, she’s weak and ineffective.”)
The portion of her speech on the Gaza battle drew one of many largest cheers of the evening from conference attendees — and capped every week through which pro-Palestinian protesters marched close to the United Heart and a small group of delegates protested the battle from inside the sector. Harris denounced the Oct. 7 Hamas assault and stated of Gaza for the reason that assault: “The size of the struggling is heartbreaking.”
“President Biden and I are working to finish this battle in order that Israel is secure, the hostages are freed, the struggling in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian folks can notice their proper to dignity, safety, freedom, and self-determination,” she stated.
Harris and her advisers additionally knew she wanted to extra exactly outline the risk posed by Trump, selecting to focus extensively on Mission 2025, a conservative coverage platform crafted by his allies. She warned that these insurance policies may have a devastating impression on reproductive well being, resulting in a nationwide abortion ban and new restrictions on ladies’s well being care.
“Merely put, they’re out of their minds,” Harris stated. She added that she would “proudly” signal laws defending abortion rights — a pledge Biden additionally made however one that’s unlikely to be upheld within the present Congress.
She additionally rebuked Republicans who, at Mr. Trump’s request, torpedoed bipartisan border security bill She pledged that america would create an “earned path to citizenship” and that she would signal a border safety initiative as commander in chief.
“In some ways, Donald Trump shouldn’t be a severe man,” Harris stated. “However the penalties of Donald Trump returning to the White Home could be extraordinarily severe.”
Harris warned that Mr. Trump’s try to overturn the 2020 election, his encouragement of the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and the Supreme Courtroom’s current resolution granting presidents broad immunity for crimes dedicated in workplace level to a second Trump time period that will be far worse for the nation than his first.
“Think about Donald Trump with out guardrails,” she stated, “and the way he would use the immense presidency of america.”
The race remains uncomfortably close Democrats have a head begin, at the same time as Harris has gained floor in current weeks with younger folks, black voters and ladies, all teams crucial to the social gathering’s success in November. And with fiery speeches on the conference this week, Democratic Get together members made clear they’re optimistic about her probabilities within the months forward. And several other social gathering leaders, together with President Barack Obama, have recommended that Harris and her working mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will get marketing campaign assist.
All through the week, the Democratic Get together’s most distinguished figures have been making their case for Kamala Harris to run for president. Hillary Clinton, the primary feminine Democrat to run for president, misplaced to Mr. Trump in 2016. She stated Harris was the newest in a protracted line of American ladies who fought for civil rights, ran for workplace and knocked on the door of the presidency. Mr. Obama argued that Harris’s candidacy was an extension of his personal political motion.
Others used their time on stage to criticize Mr. Trump’s habits and insurance policies. Michelle Obamathe previous first woman, bluntly referred to as the previous president a racist and sexist.
However the conference’s last evening wove collectively chapters of Ms. Harris’s biography with a deal with the social gathering’s key points: local weather change, racial justice and gun violence prevention. A collection of audio system argued that Mr. Trump had reworked the Republican Get together past recognition, and that individuals who felt alienated by that social gathering may discover refuge in Ms. Harris’s marketing campaign.
“I might be a president who unites us round our highest aspirations,” she stated. “A president who leads and listens. A president who’s practical, pragmatic, has widespread sense and at all times fights for the American folks.”
