Harris Attacks Trump, Promises to ‘Be a President for All Americans’

 

 

A month after replacing President Biden as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted her party’s presidential nomination, delivering the most important speech of her political career.

In a nearly 40-minute speech that was the culmination and closing moment of the four-day Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, the vice president promised to chart “a new path forward” if Americans elect her to succeed her boss, President Biden.

Harris also warned Americans against returning former President Trump, the Republican nominee, to power.

“In many ways, Donald Trump is a very unserious man,” the vice president argued. “But the consequences of Donald Trump returning to the White House are extremely serious.”

And Harris cast herself as someone who could unite a deeply polarized nation, saying, “With this election, our nation has a precious and fleeting opportunity to move beyond the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past.”

“I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations,” she promised.

“A president who leads and listens. Who is realistic. Practical. And has common sense. And always fights for the American people.”

Harris noted that “there are people of all political persuasions watching tonight. And I want you to know: I promise to be a president for all Americans.”

Recalling her years as a prosecutor, San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general before being elected to the U.S. Senate and four years ago as the nation’s vice president, she said, “From the courtroom to the White House, this has been my life’s work.”

Harris made history in 2020 as the first woman elected vice president. She made the record books again this month as the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to win a major party’s presidential nomination. And if she wins in November, Harris could become the nation’s first female president.

Harris has ridden a wave of energy and enthusiasm, both in the polls and in fundraising, since replacing President Biden as the Democratic ticket for the 2024 election four weeks ago.

She took the stage at Chicago’s United Center to thunderous applause and a prolonged standing ovation, which included chants of “Yes, You Can.”

After describing herself as the daughter of an Indian scientist who emigrated to America “with an unshakable dream of becoming the scientist who would cure breast cancer,” she recounted how the sexual abuse of a childhood friend fueled her desire to become a prosecutor.

“Like the people I grew up with, people who work hard, chase their dreams, and care about each other, on behalf of all those whose history could only be written in the greatest nation on earth, I accept your nomination for President of the United States of America,” Harris said.

During his vice presidential speech, Trump took to social media several times to attack his 2024 rival.

● Trump appears in Asheboro, North Carolina

As Harris spoke about her early years, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “There’s a lot of talk about childhood, we need to get to the border, inflation and crime!”

Minutes later, as Harris promised in her speech that building the middle class “will be a central focus of my presidency,” Trump referenced his three and a half years as the nation’s vice president during the Biden administration and asked, “Why hasn’t he done something about the things he’s complaining about?”

Harris, as expected, devoted part of her speech to highlighting reproductive rights, an issue that has energized and mobilized Democrats in the two years since the Supreme Court’s resounding ruling by a conservative majority that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide.

He argued that “Donald Trump handpicked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom.”

And he vowed that “when Congress passes legislation to restore reproductive freedom, as President of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.”

But he also touched on the issue of border security, an issue on which Trump and his Republican colleagues have harshly attacked the Biden administration because of the surge of migrants entering the country over the past three and a half years.

Harris referenced a border security bill that had some bipartisan support and was being considered by Congress earlier this year before Republicans opposed the measure at Trump’s urging.

“As president, I will revive the bipartisan border security bill that he killed. And I will sign it into law,” Harris reiterated.

Harris also pledged that “as Commander in Chief, I will ensure that America always has the strongest and most lethal fighting force in the world. I will fulfill our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families. And I will always honor, and never denigrate, their service and sacrifice.”

The comments sparked chants of “USA, USA” from the crowd of Democratic politicians, officials, activists and supporters in the arena.

Taking aim at Trump, Harris said: “I will not befriend tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong Un, who are rooting for Trump.”

She promised that, if elected, she would continue the Biden administration’s efforts to end two major international conflicts.

“I will stand firmly with Ukraine and our NATO allies,” he said, underlining the Eastern European nation’s ongoing war against Russian aggression.

And pointing to the Middle East, she stressed: “I want to be clear: I will always defend Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always make sure that Israel has the ability to defend itself. Because the people of Israel will never again have to face the horror that the terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7.”

But he added that “at the same time, what has happened in Gaza in the last 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for their lives, again and again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.”

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have protested outside the Democratic convention all week, as the party remains partially divided over the Biden administration’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

“President Biden and I are working to end this war so that Israel is safe, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity. Security. Freedom. And self-determination,” in a sentence that drew loud applause.

Biden ended his reelection bid on July 21, after his disastrous performance in a debate with Trump in late June fueled doubts about the 81-year-old president’s physical and mental ability to manage another four years in the White House and sparked calls within the Democratic Party to withdraw from the race.

Biden, in a heartfelt and emotional speech, spoke on the first night of the convention before heading to California for a short vacation.

Harris, near the beginning of her speech, praised her boss.

“To our president, Joe Biden. When I think of the journey we have traveled together, Joe, I am filled with gratitude,” she said. “Your record is extraordinary, as history will show, and your character is inspiring.”

Harris also handed a landslide victory to her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who had addressed the convention the night before.

“To Coach Tim Walz. You’re going to be an incredible vice president,” he said.

Since Harris took over from Biden as the Democratic ticket leader, the former president has sought to paint her as a far leftist.

Trump on Harris’ DNC Speech: Why Doesn’t She Do the Things She Complains About?

Trump, in an interview with Fox News hosts Bret Baier and Martha McCallum after the vice president’s speech, accused Harris of being “a Marxist. Always has been. Always will be.”

The former president described Harris’ speech as “a bunch of whining.”

“He didn’t talk about China. He didn’t talk about fracking. He didn’t talk about crime. He didn’t talk about the 70 percent of our people living in poverty. He didn’t talk about housing,” she stressed. “He presided over the weakest border in the history of our country.” [Fox News]

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