The vice-president argued that her personal story and background as a prosecutor made her uniquely qualified to protect Americans’ interests against a former president she cast as only having his own interests in mind.
Kamala Harris took to the stage to a thunderous standing ovation at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night to officially accept her historic Democratic presidential nomination and outline her plans for the US, should she win in November’s election.
This was her chance to tell Americans who she is and drive home the message of how she would be a superior world leader to her Republican rival Donald Trump, after current Democratic President Joe Biden withdrew from the race last month.
Here are five key takeaways from the Harris speech that closed the convention.
A potential president of historic firsts
The daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, Harris became the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to accept a major party’s presidential nomination and she would become the first female president if elected.
She didn’t explicitly reference the historic firsts she would set in her 40-minute speech but struck a personal tone as she reintroduced herself to the crowds.
Raised primarily by her mother in a small apartment in San Francisco’s East Bay after her parents’ divorce, Harris described being reared as well by friends and caregivers who were “family by love”.
She also detailed a key part of her political origin story, when Wanda, her best friend from high school, confided in her that she was being abused by her stepfather and came to live with Harris’ family.
“That is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor. To protect people like Wanda,” Harris said.
Outlining her work as a prosecutor, state attorney general, senator and now vice president, Harris declared, “My entire career I’ve only had one client: the people”. Meanwhile, she said Trump has only ever acted in the interests of “the only client he has ever had: himself”.
Steadfast support for Ukraine and NATO
Harris reaffirmed her support for Ukraine against Russia’s war of aggression, in addition to strengthening relationships with fellow NATO members
“As president, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies,” Harris said.
She slammed Trump’s past comments on the war, which is in its third year. Trump has previously repeatedly questioned US backing for Ukraine.
Harris said that five days before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 she had “warned President Zelenskyy” and has since helped mobilise more than 50 countries to counter President Vladimir Putin’s aggression.
Harris added that, unlike her presidential rival, she wouldn’t “cosy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong-Un, who are rooting for Trump”.
“They know Trump won’t hold autocrats accountable — because he wants to be an autocrat,” Harris said. “As president, I will never waver in defence of America’s security and ideals.”
No shift in Gaza war stance
The vice president vowed to work toward an end to Israel’s war against Hamas that can stabilise the rest of the region, while not hesitating to protect US forces from aggression by Iran and other adversaries.
While she pledged to “always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself” after Hamas’ attack on 7 October and pushed for the release of the hostages and the implementation of a cease-fire deal, she highlighted the plight of Palestinian civilians as well.
Pro-Palestinian protesters and members of the “uncommitted” movement in the arena sharply criticised convention organisers for not inviting a Palestinian American onstage.
“What has happened in Gaza in the last 10 months is devastating, so many innocent lives lost,” Harris said. “Desperate, hungry people fleeing to safety over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.”
Protecting women’s reproductive rights
Harris also spoke about one of the key issues from her vice presidency: reproductive rights.
Pledging to restore nationwide access to abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, which had protected the federal right to abortion for decades, Harris lambasted Trump and Republicans who have enabled abortion bans across two dozen states and have sought to move further.
“Now he brags about it,” Harris proclaimed. “Simply put, they are out of their minds.”
Abortion is an issue many Democrats have been keen to see Harris capitalise on and is a topic that has galvanised Democratic voters.
A direct appeal to Republicans against Trump
Harris made a direct call to Republicans who don’t support Trump to put aside party labels and support her over Trump, who denied his loss to President Biden in the 2020 election, which inspired the 6 January 2021 Capitol riots.
” know there are people of various political views watching tonight, and I want you to know I promise to be a president for all Americans,” Harris said. “I promise to be a president for all Americans to hold sacred America’s constitutional principles, fundamental principles, from the rule of law and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power.”
The vice-president invoked her prosecutor’s background when she referred several times to Trump’s “explicit intent” to free those who assaulted law enforcement officers at the Capitol, jail political opponents and use the military against US citizens.
“Consider what he intends to do if we give him power again,” she added.
