US Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination to be the party’s presidential candidate during a speech on the last day of the convention, this Thursday (22).
“On behalf of all those whose history could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States,” Harris said at the keynote address of the Democratic National Convention, held at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois (USA).
Before Kamala, only one woman had received the Democratic presidential nomination: former Secretary of State and former First Lady Hillary Clinton, who lost the election to Donald Trump in 2016. Trump, a Republican, will be Kamala’s opponent in the November 5 election.
In her speech, broadcast live on major US television networks, Kamala told her personal story, criticized Trump and explained her main political proposals.
The vice president became a candidate in an unusual way, because, unlike previous candidates, she did not go through a primary process.
The Democratic Party primaries were won by the current American president, Joe Biden, who had no strong opponents, but on July 21, the president announced that he was ending his re-election campaign after facing pressure from his own Democrats following a poor performance during the televised debate with Trump. Biden then called on the party to unite around Kamala.
Defense of illegal immigrants
During her speech, Kamala argued that the US should regularize the more than 11 million illegal immigrants currently living in its territory and, at the same time, protect the border with Mexico.
“I believe we can do justice to our heritage as a nation of migrants and reform our broken immigration system,” the Democrat said.
Despite her remarks, Harris also promised to revive and permanently enact into law a controversial, bipartisan immigration pact that included the most stringent restrictions on the asylum system in years. That pact, unlike the one Harris advocated, did not include any path to legal status for migrants already in the U.S. or those seeking to migrate to the country.
“I refuse to play political games with our security, and here is my commitment: As president, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill,” he insisted.
Kamala also noted in her speech that the pact had been supported at the time by the Border Patrol union and made no specific mention of how it would offer people living without legal status a path to full citizenship.
The brief mention of migration management in Kamala’s speech marks a departure from current President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, in which he emphasized his differences with former President Donald Trump on that front and promised to “restore” the country’s asylum system.
Criticism of Trump
Kamala Harris called former President Donald Trump an “unserious” man in her speech who will have “serious” consequences for the country if he returns to the White House.
If he wins the November election, Trump will use the “enormous powers of the presidency” to benefit “himself,” the Democrat said. Kamala also alleged that Trump “tried to discard the vote” of Americans when he lost the 2020 election and spread “conspiracy theories” about voter fraud.
The Democratic candidate recalled the various lawsuits the Republican faced and spoke about some of his proposals, such as granting tax incentives to businesspeople.
“We know what a second Trump term would look like,” Harris said, before proclaiming, “We will not back down,” as supporters at the convention cheered.
Trump, who was commenting live on Kamala’s statements on his social network Truth Social, wrote in capital letters: “IS SHE TALKING ABOUT ME?”
War in the Middle East and Defense of Israel
In her speech, Kamala also called the situation in the Gaza Strip “devastating” and “heartbreaking,” but pledged to defend Israel.
“Let me be clear: I will always defend Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure that Israel has the ability to do so,” the Democrat said.
Kamala said the people of Israel must never again face the “horror” that Palestinian terror group Hamas inflicted during its massacre on October 7 last year and stressed that she and US President Joe Biden are working “tirelessly” to secure the release of the hostages taken that day and a ceasefire in Gaza.
While supporting Israel, Harris also spoke about the situation caused by the ten-month war in the enclave.
“At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past ten months is devastating. Many innocent lives have been lost. Desperate and hungry people have fled time and again in search of safety. The scale of the suffering is heartbreaking,” he added.
“President Biden and I are working to end this war so that Israel is safe, the hostages are freed, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” he said.
The Biden and Harris administration’s support for Israel has become a flashpoint at the party’s convention. Among the party’s delegates elected in the Democratic primary, a minority of 30 people, many of them wearing kufiya (Palestinian headscarves), demonstrated outside the gym where the event was held.
Protests against the war in Gaza have also been held on the streets of Chicago throughout this week.
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