Chicago: US Vice President Kamala Harris has formally accepted the Democratic Party's presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and she will take on her Republican rival Donald Trump in the November elections. She has officially become the first woman of Indian and African heritage to contest on a major party's ticket.
"On behalf of the people, on behalf of every American, regardless of party, race, gender or the language your grandmother speaks, on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey on behalf of Americans, like the people I grew up with, people who work hard, chase their dreams and look out for one another, on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on earth, I accept your nomination the United States," she said, to a thunderous applause from the audience. She also thanked President Joe Biden, her husband Doug Emhoff and her running mate Tim Walz.
Harris entered the stage of the final day of the DNC, packed with thousands of people brimming with energy. She emerged as the Democratic candidate a little more than a month ago when allies of Biden, 81, forced him to quit the race. If successful, she stands to make history as the first woman elected US president.
Meanwhile, Biden called Harris to wish her luck before her speech, according to a White House spokesperson. "I accept your nomination to be President of the United States of America. And with this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past, a chance to chart a new way forward...I promise to be a president for all Americans," she added.
Kamala Harris recalls her mother, attacks Trump
Harris, 59, said she is no stranger to unlikely journeys and recalled her mother Shyamala Gopalan from Chennai and her Jamaican father Donald Jasper's contribution to her journey. "America, the path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected. But I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys. My mother Shyamala Harris had one of her own. I miss her every day--especially now. And I know she’s looking down tonight, and smiling," she said.
Harris pledged to stand with Ukraine and NATO allies if she became President and promised to pass a middle class tax cut. Attacking her rival Trump, she said he was not concerned about the middle class. "Instead of the Trump tax hike we will pass a middle class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans," Harris said in her speech.
She also called Trump an "unserious man" and the consequences of putting him back in the White House are "extremely serious". Harris made a direct appeal to anti-Trump Republicans to put aside party labels and to support her over Trump, who denied his loss to Biden in the 2020 election, which inspired the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.
“Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes. When he failed, he sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol where they assaulted law enforcement officers. When politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help, he did the opposite. He fanned the flames,” she said, highlighting Trump's criminal convictions.
On abortion, Harris said, "As a part of his (former president Donald Trump's) agenda. He and his allies would limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion, and enact a nationwide abortion ban with or without Congress. And get this get this: he plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator and force states to report on women's miscarriages and abortions. Simply put, they are out of their minds. One must ask, one must ask: why exactly is it that they don't trust women? Well, we trust women. We trust women."
Harris' stance on Gaza
The Vice President further turned her attention to the ongoing war, describing the last 10 months in Gaza as "devastating" but also defending Israel's right to defend itself. She asserted that it was time to get a ceasefire and hostage deal done and said the scale of Israel's devastation was "heartbreaking". "President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination," Harris said.
The Israel-Hamas war is the most divisive issue facing the Democratic Party and the US support for Israel's campaign has gone mostly unaddressed during the four-day convention, leaving pro-Palestinian delegates upset with Harris. Muslim delegates and their allies had pushed for a prime-time speaking slot to address the latest bloodshed in the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which began on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing about 1,200, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's assault on Hamas-governed Gaza, with the aid of US support, has since killed 40,000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials say, along with displacing nearly its entire 2.3 million population, causing a hunger crisis and flattening almost the entire enclave. Pro-Palestinian advocates on Thursday vowed to keep pressuring Harris to change course on arms sales to Israel.
Party insiders fear the Gaza war could cost Harris needed votes in battleground states such as Michigan, which is home to cities with significant Muslim and Arab American populations and college campuses that have been the site of Gaza protests. The DNC has been faced by pro-Palestinian protests each day in Chicago, including from thousands of demonstrators on Thursday night ahead of Harris' speech. Dozens of arrests were made during the week.
(with inputs from agencies)
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