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“Simply put, they are out of their minds,” said Kamala Harris about Donald Trump and the Republicans during her acceptance speech Thursday night 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,” Harris added in an often blistering 45-minute speech at Chicago’s United Center.
After a nearly week long buildup, Harris took the stage around 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET 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.
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It got nearly that loud again as 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.”
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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 Joe Biden, her family and her late mother, Harris officially accepted the Dems’ nomination at 10:44 p.m. ET/7:44 p.m. PT, or 9:44 p.m. CT 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” 10% to 20% import tariff, 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 lesser extent, her Jamaican-born father, the VP did not talk about her gender or race — perhaps acknowledging them as self-evident.
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In that context, swaths of Harris’ speech wouldn’t have sounded out of place at either a DNC or GOP convention in the 1990s. It also would have 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 against Russia and for Israel against Hamas, a ceasefire in the Middle East and return of 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 during Harris’ speech, Trump’s sharpest critique and response to her attacks on him was to say she had “too many ‘Thank You’s’ too rapidly said.” Also calling into Fox News with a lot of his usual swipes against Harris, Trump told the channel and its viewers that he believed she sidestepped “the things that she’s talking about complaining about.”
As expected, Harris also put the spotlight on the clawing back of reproductive rights for women following the conservative majority Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 and harsh red-state restrictions nationwide limiting access to abortion care.
Harris’ surging poll numbers and clinching of the Dems’ nomination after Biden dropped out of the race a month ago 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 compared 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 to struggle with a breakthrough message to counter Harris’ ascension.
On the closing day of the DNC, there were a lot of rumors running rampant of a special guest dropping into the United Center – specifically Beyoncé, whose “Freedom” has become the Harris campaign’s theme song. Running the risk of overshadowing the candidate, or anyone else in the world for that matter, Queen Bey never did show up.
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Still, on a night hosted by Kerry Washington, with performances by The Chicks and Pink and a virtual drop-in from NBA superstar Steph Curry, it wasn’t like there was a lack of star power in the building. Add to those remarks tonight 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 Freeman-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-screen beau/POTUS Tony Goldwyn.
Absent as the torch now belongs to a new generation, the current POTUS and First Lady made their presence and support felt 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, with Harris 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, a contrast to previous nights, with attendees sitting on steps.
The night featured a succession of emotional moments including a segment featuring testimonials from victims of gun violence, followed by a rare speech by Gabby Giffords, who recounted the assassination attempt on her life. Pink then appeared to sing “What About Us.”
Turns at the lectern came from the Dems’ deep bench of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and elder statesman Leon E. Panetta. On another poignant note, NYC councilmember 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.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a member of the January 6th Committee, was the highest profile GOPer to speak. “The Republican Party is no longer conservative. It has switched its allegiance from the principles that gave it purpose, to a man whose only purpose is himself.”
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 channel 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; they are likely to burst the 20 million mark the Dems’ gathering has been pulling each night all week.
Harris and Trump will be trading barbs on the trail over the next two weeks, but they will face off in-person at a debate on ABC on September 10.