Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday night, vowing to be a president for “all Americans,” and to move beyond the “divisive battles of the past.”
Harris talked about her upbringing as the daughter of a “brilliant, five-foot-tall brown woman,” and her early career as a prosecutor. And in sharp terms, she prosecuted a case against Donald Trump, taking aim at the “chaos and calamity” of his first term and his actions since he lost the 2020 election.
“In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man. But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious to consider,” she said. “This election is not only the most important of our lives. It is one of the most important in the life of our nation.”
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She argued that dictators like Kim Jong Un are “rooting” for Trump, and warned that Trump will impose a nationwide ban on abortion and force states to report on women’s abortions and miscarriages.
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“Simply put, they are out of their minds,” she said.
Harris launched her campaign less than a month ago, and so took the opportunity to introduce herself to the country. She talked of her mother’s immigration from India to the U.S. at 19. She said her mother was a “trailblazer” who raised two kids alone in an apartment in the East Bay, and instilled the values of the Civil Rights movement.
“She taught us to never complain about injustice, but do something about it,” she said.
She also sought to persuade Americans of all political stripes that she would uphold the nation’s ideals.
“You can always trust me to put country above party and self, to hold sacred America’s fundamental principles, from the rule of law to free and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power,” she said.
Earlier in the convention, speakers like Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama had heralded the pathbreaking nature of Harris’ candidacy.
Harris offered allusions to it, referencing civil rights pioneers Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley, but did not go out of her way to underscore that she would be the first woman president.
She accepted the Democratic nomination on behalf of her mother, and on behalf of “everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth.” And in closing, she spoke of the need to “uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth, the privilege and pride of being an American.”
As the balloons fell from the rafters, she was greeted on stage by her husband Doug Emhoff, and by Tim and Gwen Walz, to the strains of Beyonce’s “Freedom.”
Kerry Washington hosted the convention’s final night, and didn’t waste any time addressing critics of celebrity political endorsements as she threw her support behind Harris.
“As I stand here, I know that there are folks on social media already saying, ‘Go back to your TV show! Shut up and act.’ But I am not here tonight as an actor,” Washington said at the top of her speech. “I am here as a mother, as a daughter, as a proud union member. I am here as the granddaughter of immigrants, as a Black woman descended from enslaved people. I am here tonight because I am an American and because I am a voter, and because we the people are stronger when all our voices are heard.”
Washington’s former TV paramour and “Scandal” co-star Tony Goldwyn, who hosted the first night of the convention Monday, joined her on stage to film a video for social media as she hyped up the crowd: “When we fight, we win!”
Washington wasn’t the only celeb lending their star power to Harris’ campaign on Thursday, with performances from The Chicks and P!nk, along with speeches from Eva Longoria and D.L. Hughley.
“Of course, Trump is saying that Kamala isn’t Black,” Hughley quipped. “I guarantee you this: Kamala’s been Black a lot longer than Trump’s been a Republican.”
Longoria took a moment to reclaim a well-known saying in Harris’ name during her speech. “In the Latino community, we have a saying, ‘Si se puede,’ which means ‘yes we can.’ But tonight, I’m here to tell you, yes she can. So we’re gonna say she se puede,” Longoria said before encouraging the crowd to join her in chanting the phrase.
Earlier in the evening, Golden State Warriors star player Steph Curry also delivered a virtual message endorsing Harris. “Together, we can do all things and continue to inspire the world. That’s why I believe that Kamala as president can bring that unity back, and continue to move our country forward. This is about preserving hope and belief in our country,” he said.
