“Simply put, they are out of their minds,” said Kamala Harris of Donald Trump and the Republicans tonight in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention
Taking a strident tone against her Republican rival and the draconian Project 2025, the Vice President warned her audience: “Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.”
“In many ways Donald Trump is an unserious man, but the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious,” she exclaimed in an often blistering 45-minute speech.
After a nearly week long build up in Chicago, Harris took the stage around 7:30 pm PT/10:30 pm ET at the United Center to a near deafening cheer from the thousands of delegates and chants of “Yes, You Can!” in the Windy City. The roar in the arena hit a pitch so high it briefly pierced the ears for the first Black woman to be the presidential nominee of a major American political party.
It got nearly that loud again in the United Center when Harris finished, and the VP was joined by her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and their spouses for the traditional balloon drop and a blasting version of Beyoncé’s ‘Freedom.’
On what also happens to be Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff’s 10th wedding anniversary, the VP started off her primetime speech making a distinct point of reintroducing herself to America with the story of her immigrant mother, living in the flats of Oakland, CA listening to “Aretha, Coltrane, Miles,” and the middle-class opportunities that led her to become a prosecutor and California Attorney General.
After paying respect to President Biden, her family and her late mother, the Vice President officially accepted the Dems’ nomination at 10:44 pm ET/7:44 pm PT, or 9:44 pm CT for this in the crowd in Chicago.
“You can always trust me to put country over party and self,” Harris declared. Flipping the script on the GOP and promising a middle-class tax cut against the so-called “Trump Tax” national sales tax proposal, Harris added: “I will be a president who leads, and listens …has common sense.”
While speaking at length about her India-born mother and, to a less extent, her Jamaican-born father, the VP did not talk about was her gender or race — perhaps acknowledging them as self-evident.
In that context, swaths of Harris’ speech wouldn’t have sounded out of place at either a DNC or GOP convention in the 1990s. The speech would have also squared nicely with the sort of remarks given over the years by the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
Promising strong borders, support for Ukraine and Israel against Russia and Hamas, a ceasefire in the Middle East and return of the hostages, Harris was greeted with calls of “USA, USA” – something you don’t often hear at gatherings of Democrats. Harris also pledged to not play “politics with our national security,” and went full Commander-in-chief with a promise of “lethal” fighting capacities for America’s military,
In a frenzy of posts on social media, Trump’s sharpest critique of Harris and response to her attacks on his was to say she had “too many ‘Thank Yous’ too rapidly said.” Also calling into Fox News with a lot of his usual swipes against the VP, Trump told the channel and its viewers that he believed Harris sidestepped “the things that she’s talking about complaining about.”
As expected, the VP also centered her remarks on the clawing back of reproductive rights for women with the conservative majority Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 and harsh of Red state restrictions across the nation limiting access to abortion care.
Harris’ surging polls and clinching of the Dems’ nomination after Joe Biden dropped out of the race a month ago following his crash and burn debate performance on June 27 on CNN has been remarkable, even for a sitting Vice President. Part of the extraordinary nature of the former California Senator’s dominance of the political landscape the past few weeks has to be ratchet up to the sudden impotence of Trump and running mate Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH). Set for what they thought was an easy wipeout of Biden this election, the usually mocking and bullying Republicans seem to have been rendered near mute by Harris’ ascension.
On the closing day of the DNC, there were a lot of rumors running rampant of a special guest dropping int the United Center – specifically, Beyoncé, whose ‘Freedom’ tune has become the VP’s campaign soundtrack. Running the risk of overshadowing the candidate, or anyone else in the world for that matter, Queen Bey never did show up.
Still, on a night hosted by Kerry Washington, with performances by the Chicks and Pink, a virtual drop-in from NBA superstar Steph Curry, it wasn’t like there was a lack of star power in the building in Chicago. Add to those remarks from Eva Longoria and D.L. Hughley, Don Cheadle, Ben Stiller, and Ava DuVernay in the audience, and, first reported by Deadline earlier this week, a Morgan Freedman narrated film on the VP from ex-BET boss and close Harris friend Reginald Hudlin.
There was even a Scandal selfie reunion with Washington and on-scree beau and POTUS Tony Goldwyn. Absent as the torch now belongs to a new generation, the current POTUS and First Lady made their presence and Harris support via social media.
On the convention’s final night, the arena filled up early in the evening, with the floor dotted in swaths of white. Delegates wore that color in honor of women’s suffrage, a nod to the historic moment. Harris is the second woman to accept a major party nomination for president, and the first Black woman.
Seats in the upper reaches of the arena filled early in the evening, a contrast to previous nights, with attendees sitting on steps due to the lack of available seats.
The night featured a succession of emotional moments, including a segment featuring testimonials from victims of gun violence, followed by a rare speech by Giffords, who recounted the assassination attempt on her life. Pink then appeared to sing “What About Us.”
Turns at the lectern from the Dems deep bench of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, North Carolina Gov. Roy Copper and Arizona Se. Mark Kelly, along with the beloved ex-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and elder statesman Leon E. Panetta. On another poignant note, NYC Council member Yusef Salaam and the other members of the Exonerated 5, formerly known as the Central Park 5, took the stage to remind Democrats and America of Trump’s racist attacks on them decades ago and his refusal to admit he was wrong.
Most of the marquee night was covered live on CNN, MSNBC and the BBC, as well as broadcast nets NBC, CBS and ABC. Fox News had a wide shot spilt screen of what was going on in the packed United Center, but the Rupert Murdoch-owned mainly stayed with hosts like Sean Hannity and its anchors.
With 75-days left until Election Day and a slight pre-convention lead for the Democrats, Harris will spend Friday in Chicago before returning to DC in the evening with her husband. Before the VP leaves the midwestern metropolis, ratings for the DNC’s final night will likely be released – numbers that are likely to burst the 20 million a night the Dems’ gathering has been pulling all week.
Harris and Trump will be trading barbs on the trial over the next two weeks, but they will face off in-person at a debate on ABC on September 10 — unless someone drops out.
