Kamala Harris electrified the crowd Thursday night as she accepted the Democratic presidential nomination with a vow to bring America to a fairer, brighter future while evoking an ominous alternative world with Donald Trump.
"On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination for president of the United States of America," Harris said to thunderous applause to the rapt thousands at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Harris promised: "Our nation, with this election, 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 — not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans.
She vowed to create an "opportunity economy" and end the nation's housing shortage.
Harris also zeroed in on the dangerous attack on women's reproductive rights in the wake of the fall of Roe v. Wade in a U.S. Supreme Court now heavily influenced by Trump.
She recounted stories of pregnant women getting sepsis and miscarrying in parking lots, and placed the blame on Trump, who nominated three of the justices. Harris warned that Trump and his allies would next limit access to birth control and enact a nationwide abortion ban, adding: "Simply put, they are out of their minds."
On the world front, Harris vowed to continue to provide staunch support to Ukraine in the face of Russia's invasion of the country, and "always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself." But she also decried the tremendous Palestinian death toll in the ongoing Hamas-Israeli war and called for Palestinian self-determination.
She also slammed Trump's admiration for the dictators of the world.
"I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong-un, who are rooting for Trump because they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors," Harris said. "In the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand and where the United States of America belongs."
She painted a dramatic difference between a Harris administration and a future with Donald Trump in the White House with "no guardrails" and the tremendous power to forever alter the nation.
"Consider the power he will have, especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled that he would be immune from criminal prosecution," Harris warned.
"Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States — not to improve your life, not to strengthen our national security, but to serve the only client he has ever had: himself."
