Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, vowing to unite the nation and convey a sensible perspective to the presidency if she is elected in November.
“I do know there are individuals of assorted political opinions watching tonight,” Harris mentioned in her keynote handle on the ultimate night time of the Democratic Nationwide Conference in Chicago.
“And I need you to know: I promise to be a president for all Individuals,” she mentioned.
“I will probably be a president who unites us round our highest aspirations,” Harris mentioned. “A president who leads — and listens. Who’s reasonable. Sensible. And has widespread sense. And all the time fights for the American individuals.”
Harris additionally promised that constructing the center class “will probably be a defining purpose of my presidency.”
“That is private for me. The center class is the place I come from,” she mentioned.
That line channeled the rhetoric of President Joe Biden, who made historical past in late July when he withdrew his reelection bid and endorsed Harris as his alternative.
However Harris’ speech additionally gave her a possibility to uncouple herself from the 81-year-old incumbent — who has been dogged by low approval rankings — and pitch a “new manner ahead.”
“With this election, our nation has a valuable, fleeting alternative to maneuver previous the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the previous,” she mentioned. “Not as members of any one social gathering or faction, however as Individuals.”
The speech capped the DNC’s four-day parade of politicians, celebrities, activists, entertainers and on a regular basis Individuals, starting from Oprah Winfrey and Invoice Clinton to the wrongfully imprisoned members of the Central Park 5.
It additionally mirrored the patriotic overtures and constructive vibes that outlined a lot of the conference — a transparent effort to attraction to extra reasonable voters, and defang Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump‘s makes an attempt to label Harris a far-left “Marxist.”
That tone serves one other objective: Underscoring Democrats’ latest chorus that each the previous president Trump and his working mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, are “bizarre” and do not characterize many of the nation.
“In some ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man,” Harris mentioned Thursday night time.
“However the penalties of placing Donald Trump again within the White Home are extraordinarily critical.”
She warned that Trump could be empowered if rewarded with a second time period, referencing a latest Supreme Courtroom ruling that granted former presidents “presumptive immunity” from felony prosecution for his or her official acts.
“Simply think about Donald Trump with no guardrails,” she mentioned, including that he would wield it “to serve the one shopper he has ever had: himself.”
She talked about the Supreme Courtroom once more later within the speech, when she hammered Trump for having “hand-picked” three justices who helped overturn longstanding federal abortion rights.
Harris additionally took an offensive stance on immigration, one of many points the place the Biden-Harris administration has obtained its lowest approval marks.
She blasted Trump for opposing a bipartisan border safety invoice, saying he ordered Republicans to “kill the deal” as a result of he thought it could damage his marketing campaign.
“As president, I’ll convey again the bipartisan border safety invoice that he killed. And I’ll signal it into regulation,” she mentioned.
She went on to reaffirm her assist for Israel, rebuking Trump, who has claimed Harris “hates” the Jewish state, whereas acknowledging the “devastating” lack of life in Gaza and vowing to maintain working towards a ceasefire.
And, she added, “I can’t cozy as much as tyrants and dictators, like Kim Jong Un, who’re rooting for Trump.”
