CHICAGO, USA - Kamala Harris pledged to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and chart a “new way forward” as president in her closing speech to the Democratic convention on Thursday night.
In an address designed to tackle her political vulnerabilities head on, the US vice president vowed to deliver strong leadership on immigration and foreign policy.
Discussing Israel’s war in Gaza, Ms Harris said: “Now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done”.
She pledged to “always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself”, but added: “what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating.”
The remarks were designed to strike a delicate balance between the party’s supporters of Israel and progressives who have staged pro-Palestinian protests outside the convention in Chicago each day.
Disappointed Pro-Palestinian activists said Harris' speech failed to demonstrate any break from the status quo, after a week in which the most divisive issue facing the party was mostly ignored.
However, the majority of the address was aimed towards undecided voters watching at home, whom polls suggest will determine the election’s outcome.
She said: “I 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.”
It was the biggest speech of the 59-year-old’s career, and her largest audience of the 2024 campaign to date.
The roughly 35-minute address was markedly different to the one she expected to deliver as Joe Biden’s running mate just over a month ago, when the US president was still adamant he would seek a second term.
Ms Harris acknowledged that “the path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected”. “But I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys,” she said.
She paid tribute to Mr Biden, telling him she was “filled with gratitude” following his withdrawal from the 2024 race. “Your record is extraordinary, as history will show,” she said.
Yet she sought to break from it as she promised a “new way forward”, an effort to deny Trump of his mantle as the change candidate.
It amounted to a dramatic reframing of the White House race, seeking to build on the polling and fundraising momentum Democrats have seen since Mr Biden’s exit on July 21.
Her appearance on stage triggered a two minute ovation, before she quieted the crowd with a call to “get to business”.
The 59-year-old cast November’s election as an “enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny”, accusing Trump, 78, of cosying up to “tyrants and dictators”.
She promised that as Commander-in-chief of the “strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world”, she would “stand strong” with Ukraine and Nato allies.
It was an address steeped in patriotic language and forceful rhetoric, aimed at Republicans and independent voters watching at home.
By contrast, she said: “Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency”.
She continued: “In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man. But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.”
The comments built on a theme of the party’s gathering, with numerous prominent Republicans taking to the stage to warn against a second Trump term.
Ms Harris made no reference to the historic milestone she achieved in delivering an acceptance speech as the first woman of colour to top a major party’s ticket.
But as she formally accepted the Democratic nomination “on behalf of every American, regardless of party, race, gender or the language your grandmother speaks” her words were largely drowned out by raucous cheers from the crowd.
If successful on November 5, she will make history as America’s first female president.
She left it to previous speakers to allude to the historical weight of her campaign. Earlier in the evening, Rev Al Sharpton invoked the spirit of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman in Congress and the first woman to seek the Democratic nomination.
On Tuesday night, Michelle Obama, the former First Lady, had warned Trump would push “ugly, misogynistic, racist lies” but described Ms Harris as more than “qualified” for the job.
Ms Harris outlined her biography, as the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, but she largely avoided discussing identity politics.
Instead, she delivered an address calculated to court the middle class and confront some of her weakest issues, an effort to cut away from the Trump campaign’s effort to paint her as a “radical” and a “communist”.
Woven into it were the notes of optimism sounded by other prominent Democrats throughout the convention, which culminated with Ms Harris’ speech.
The vice president cast herself as positive about America’s future, drawing a contrast in tone and substance with her opponent.
“With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past,” she said. “A chance to chart a new way forward.”
She also built on the claim made by many speakers at the convention, that Trump is a self-absorbed leader who is only concerned with his own interests.
Drawing on her background as a prosecutor, she said she had always worked “for the people”. If Trump returns to the Oval Office, she said, he will work “not to improve your life... but to serve the only client he has ever had: himself”.
Trump followed the speech live, responding in real-time on his social media platform Truth Social.
“She said, ‘Chart a new way forward,’ but she’s had three and a half years, and has done nothing but HARM!,” he wrote.
The Republican ex-president had attempted to steal some of the media spotlight with a trip to the US-Mexico border, speaking near a stretch of border wall built during his presidency in the battleground state of Arizona.
Ms Harris’ address closed out a four-day convention in which three US presidents - Mr Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton - all rallied in support of her White House bid.
The arena’s 23,500 seats were filled for the closing speech, which capped off a star-studded week with appearances by Oprah Winfrey, John Legend and Pink.
