Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepted the nomination from the Democratic party during the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, outlining how she will lead if she makes it to the White House and making the case to Americans about the dangers of a second Trump presidency.
Harris' acceptance speech is the culmination of eight chaotic weeks in American history, which included the disastrous first presidential debate, former President Donald Trump's failed assassination attempt and President Biden dropping out of the presidential race.
She took the stage in front of a sea of female delegates wearing white shirts— the color of the women's suffrage movement, which saw women earning the right to vote in 1920.
"With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past," Harris said. "A chance to chart a New Way Forward. Not as members of one party or faction, but as Americans."
The Vice President's acceptance speech comes after three days of continuous celebrations by Democrats. From an optimistic acceptance speech on Night 3 of the convention by Harris' running mate Tim Walz, to an energetic celebratory roll call filled with celebrity appearances, Democrats were able to energize their base across the country.
She opened her remarks by re-introducing herself to a national audience, recounting how her mother came by herself as a teenager from India to California, and was supposed to head back home to an arranged marriage. Instead, Shyamala Harris—the Vice President's mother— stayed in the U.S. to become a scientist.
The historic moment also served as a highlight reel for the Vice President's proposed policies if she were to occupy the White House, including her proposed policies to address housing affordability, inflation and more.
Most notably, she tried to make a case for some of the issues that tend to be seen as a political vulnerability for her ticket, such as immigration, the border and foreign policy.
Border security has been a major point of GOP criticism for Harris and her campaign, but in her speech, she made sure to tie the recent situation at the border and immigration by bringing up the failed bipartisan border security bill, which Trump encouraged Senate Republicans to vote against.
"Well, I refuse to play politics with our security," Harris said, pledging to "bring back the bipartisan border security bill" and saying she'd sign it into law.
On foreign policy, she tried to find a middle ground on the divisive war in Gaza. She vowed that she will ensure Israel never again has to face "the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on Oct. 7," while also acknowledging that "what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating."
The mentions of Palestine and Gaza were among the issues that were received with the loudest roar from the audience.
As she closed her 35-minute speech— remarkably shorter than Trump's hour-and-a-half remarks at the RNC last month— Harris pleaded with voters to choose optimism over darkness in November.
"America, let us show each other, and the world, who we are and what we stand for: freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness and endless possibilities," she said.
Harris became the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to accept a major party ticket. If elected, she will become the first female President of the U.S.
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