CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris delivered the biggest speech of her political career at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, accepting the party’s nomination and introducing herself to the nation as her abbreviated 2024 campaign enters the final stretch.
Harris took the stage 32 days after the sudden exit from the race of President Joe Biden, who had faced unrelenting pressure within his party to abandon the campaign as he lagged behind former President Donald Trump in battleground states. Biden called Harris on the eve of her speech to wish her luck.
The speech Harris delivered before an enthusiastic audience at the United Center highlighted her middle-class roots, framed the contest between herself and Trump as a battle for the future of the country, and argued that the Democratic agenda aligns with the banner of patriotism, which is more commonly seen as a defining characteristic of the Republican Party.
CHICAGO—Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) expressed pride after Vice President Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech.
“This is a dream that has been carried in the bosom, in the hearts and in unanswered prayers by many of us for so long. We worked for this moment. We earned this moment,” Presley told The Epoch Times.
If elected, Harris would be the first female, first Asian-American and first black president.
CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday will appeal to independents and voters who have yet to make up their mind, according to Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
“I think 100 percent she was talking about the issue that they want to hear about,” Markey told The Epoch Times after Harris’s speech concluded.
“It’s about kitchen table issues for them, and the security of our country, and she, on both issues, is much stronger [than her opponent.]”
Former President Donald Trump appeared on Fox News on Thursday night as the Democratic National Convention came to a close.
He criticized Vice President Kamala Harris’s plan to raise the corporate tax rate from 21 to 28 percent.
“If she raises taxes like she wants to do on companies, there go those jobs,” Trump said.
CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris brought the Democratic National Convention to a close on Thursday, to shouts of approval from her supporters.
"We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the world, and on behalf of our children and grandchildren…we must be worthy of this moment,” she said.
As Harris’s speech drew to a close, she called on her supporters to stay optimistic, and uphold their ideals and beliefs. “Never let anyone tell you who you are. Show them who you are,” she said.
CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris told the Democratic National Convention that her administration would focus on maintaining the United States’ edge over China.
Harris said she would ensure that the country “wins the competition” of the 21st century against China.
"I will make sure that we lead the world into the future on space and artificial intelligence. That America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century, and that we strengthen, not abdicate, our global leadership," Harris said.
CHICAGO—Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris reiterated her call for a deal to secure a cease-fire and release of the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.
The vice president also said Israel has a right to exist.
“The people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7,” she said.
CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris vowed during her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention to expand support for Ukraine and the 32 member states of NATO in North America and Europe.
“America, we must also be steadfast in advancing our security and values abroad,” Harris said. “I will strengthen, not abdicate, our global leadership.”
The United States has sent hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of military aid to Ukraine since 2022. She said the United States has a responsibility to protect other nations that are threatened.
CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris said she would sign the bill changing U.S. border policy that twice stalled in the Senate.
“We can live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system,” Harris said at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.
CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, laid out the highlights of her economic vision for the United States, which she called an “opportunity economy.”
“I will bring together labor and workers and small business owners and entrepreneurs and American companies, to create jobs to grow our economy,” she said at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday..
Harris also said she would make strengthening the middle class a “defining goal” of her presidency, and vowed to pass a “middle-class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans.”
As Vice President Kamala Harris officially accepted her party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, former President Donald Trump posted on his social platform, TruthSocial.
“Why didn’t she do something about the things of which she complains?” Trump asked in one post, referring to her position as vice president.
In another post, Trump wrote, “Kamala’s biography won’t lower prices at the Grocery Store, or at the [gas] Pump!”
CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris has formally accepted the Democratic Party nomination for president.
“I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America,” Harris said at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.
“With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past,” she said.
CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris opened her nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday with a nod to her upbringing.
She spoke with special affection for her mother, the renowned biologist Shyamala Gopalan.
“My mother was a brilliant, five-foot tall, brown woman with an accent. And as the eldest child, I saw how the world would sometimes treat her, but my mother never lost her cool. She was tough, courageous—a trailblazer in the fight for women's health,” Harris said.
CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris has taken the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.
She was greeted with a standing ovation. The crowd chanted “Kamala” and later “USA! USA! USA!”
She opened her speech by giving thanks to her husband, Doug Emhoff, and to President Joe Biden.
CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris’s sister, Maya Harris, took the podium at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday to tell the story of their mother, Shyamala, who emigrated from India to study in the United States at the age of 19.
“Mommy understood the powers and the possibilities that come with knowing and showing who you truly are,” Maya Harris said, just minutes before her sister took the stage.
Shyamala Gopalan Harris was a research scientist who worked to cure breast cancer; she passed away in 2009. Maya Harris said she wished her mother were alive to witness Kamala Harris’s acceptance of the Democrat nomination.
CHICAGO—Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a Republican best known for his role on the Jan. 6 House panel, said during an address to the Democratic National Convention on Thursday that Democrats are “just as patriotic” as Republicans.
“I’ve learned something about the Democratic Party, and I want to let my fellow Republicans in on a little secret: Democrats are just as patriotic as us,” Kinzinger said.
“They love this country just as much as we do.”
CHICAGO—Before the highly anticipated address on Thursday, the Harris campaign shared excerpts from Vice President Kamala Harris's nomination acceptance speech.
The speech will tout her middle-class upbringing, beginning with her mother’s immigration from India to the United States.
"My mother, Shyamala Harris, had one of her own. I miss her every day—especially now. And I know she’s looking down tonight, and smiling,” she says.
CHICAGO—Pop artist P!nk performed live at the Democratic National Convention ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ nomination acceptance speech Thursday.
The singer performed her hit song “What About Us?” which she previously said was about how the U.S. government has failed its people.
President Joe Biden posted on X that he and First Lady Jill Biden have spoken to Vice President Kamala Harris and are looking forward to watching her accept the Democratic Party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later tonight.
“Kamala and Tim will inspire a generation and lead us into the future,” Biden wrote.
The president also posted a photo of himself and Jill Biden watching the convention live, from a vacation home in Santa Ynez, California. A White House spokesperson said Biden called Harris to wish her luck ahead of her speech.
CHICAGO—Teachers and the parents of victims of mass shootings over the past two decades took the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday to share their experiences.
Their accounts came during a segment of the night’s program devoted to a call for federal gun control.
CHICAGO—Several speakers used their platform on the stage at the Democratic National Convention to bring attention to climate initiatives central to progressive objectives.
“This election is about every drop of water that we consume, and every breath that we breathe,” Rep. Maxwell Foster (D-Fla.) said. “Fighting the climate crisis is patriotic.”
He said the party’s climate agenda is important “for our planet, for our future, for our present, and for our people.”
Steph Curry, a superstar of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, made a surprise virtual appearance at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday to give his backing to Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I believe that Kamala as president could bring … unity back,” Curry said, citing the unity he and his team felt when they won the gold medal in basketball at the Olympics in Paris in a 11-point win over France.
Steve Kerr, Curry’s coach both for the Warriors and the U.S. Men's Olympics team, appeared onstage earlier this week to endorse Harris.
CHICAGO—Rev. Al Sharpton, joined by the so-called Central Park Five, took the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.
Sharpton, a controversial figure known for his past work on civil rights, criticized former President Donald Trump’s views on criminal justice and punishment.
CHICAGO—Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters have taken to the streets for the fifth consecutive day near the perimeter fences set up to protect the Democratic National Convention.
Police ordered journalists out of the street, known as the “neutral zone.”
CHICAGO—Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Vice President Kamala Harris will prevent price gouging and take on corporate interests if she wins the presidential election.
Harris recently proposed a federal ban on price gouging on food and grocery items as part of her economic platform.
CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running for president and aiming to be the first woman to hold the office, is set to deliver a nomination acceptance speech on Thursday at the Democratic National Convention.
Although some attendees at the convention voice reservations about the nation’s readiness for a female president, many still express hope that Harris will be the first to breach the glass ceiling in November.
“Yes, we’re ready for a woman president,” Kevin Freeman, a voter from New York, told The Epoch Times. “And I think that so many other countries have had women leaders, it’s time for us to get on board.”
CHICAGO—Unaffordable childcare costs are detrimental to the economy, Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), minority whip since 2023 and mother of three, said on Thursday, the final night of the Democratic National Convention.
“When parents have to choose between their kids and their jobs, businesses are hurt, too,” Clark said. “We shut out talent. We lose the prosperity parents could create.”
CHICAGO—Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge said Vice President Kamala Harris plans to build 3 million new homes and rental units if she is elected president in November.
“It's personal,” Fudge said at the Democratic National Convention, relating that Harris’s mother saved for 10 years to afford her first home.
“She knows housing is a human right and a pathway to the middle class.”
The list of speakers for the final night of the Democratic National Convention has been revealed.
The night will end with Vice President Kamala Harris’s highly-anticipated nomination acceptance speech sometime after 10 p.m. ET.
All times listed are in Eastern. Exact times for each speaker are not provided.
Democrats are mostly unfazed by the growing buzz that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may suspend his independent bid for the presidency and join forces with former President Donald Trump.
CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris is set to deliver her nomination acceptance speech on Thursday at the Democratic National Convention.
She is expected to take the stage at around 10:30 p.m. ET, and aims to identify herself as a member of America’s middle class, expressing her determination to defend freedom, opportunity, and acceptance for all people, in line with previous campaign addresses.
Her Aug. 22 speech cast the presidential campaign as a choice between competing visions for America.
CHICAGO—Former Attorney General Eric Holder is calling for Americans to come together and air their differences with open dialogue, saying communication is the key to success.
“I hope that through this electoral process .. that we will start talking to one another,” Holder told NTD News on Aug. 22. "We can disagree, but let’s talk to one another. Let’s get back to normal.”
The attorney and longtime member of the Obama administration said the energy behind Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign is significant.
CHICAGO—Jen O’Malley Dillon, chair of the Harris campaign, said voters will learn more about the vice president and her background Thursday night during her headline speech at the Democratic National Convention.
“We know how important it is for the American people to learn more about the vice president, and you hear how those stories and life jobs and interactions and personal connections have built the framing for the leader,” O’Malley Dillon said in a video interview with The Washington Post.
“[Harris] is the value she shares, who she's fighting for … and you're going to see that clearly tonight with a lot of energy and a lot of excitement.”
CHICAGO—A delegate to the Democratic National Convention says that Vice President Kamala Harris doesn’t need to "necessarily focus on policy positions" to win over Republican and independent voters.
“People can disagree on policy positions, and that's fine,” said Jeff Niebert, a Pleasanton, California, city councilman and delegate from the Golden State.
“I think most people agree with her, at least on some of the positions, but the fact that she needs to stress that she's fighting for working families," Niebert said.
CHICAGO—On Thursday, a dozen or more uncommitted delegates set themselves up inside the security perimeter of the Democratic National Convention, just across West Madison Street from the United Center.
The Democratic primary season in some areas was marked by disagreement over the Biden administration’s Israel policy. It spurred many to vote “uncommitted” rather than for the incumbent, who was the party’s presumptive nominee at the time.
CHICAGO—Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have both secured the Democratic presidential nomination. But, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) told The Epoch Times, that is where the similarity ends.They are two very different candidates.
“I was a big fan of Hillary. She was tough as nails, [and] also very compassionate, but people didn't see it.”
“Kamala, I think, exudes warmth,” Gomez said. “She's really outgoing. When she sees a toddler, she picks them up like my son … I think that's going to help not only sell the fact that she can get stuff done, but that she's a normal working-class individual, and I think that's kind of what we need.”
CHICAGO—Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Vice President Kamala Harris, were she to be elected president, would have to govern from the center.
“You have to,” Pelosi said at an CNN-Politico event outside the DNC. “Because that’s where the public is.”
Pelosi, 84, remains an influential figure in the Democratic Party. Leading from close to the center is the key to winning, she said, using swing state Michigan as a contrast to her home state.
CHICAGO—Pointing to the approximately 10 million illegal immigrants that have entered the country during the Biden–Harris administration so far, Republicans supporting the Trump campaign said during a press conference on Aug. 22 in Chicago that the country is in danger from the “open border.”
A video played by the campaign, stringing together clips of Harris remarking that entering the country illegally is not a crime, was highlighted as evidence that she is not prioritizing border security.
Vice President Kamala Harris will accept the Democratic Party's presidential nomination on the evening of Aug. 22 to cap off a rapid ascent a month after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race.
On the final day of the Democratic National Convention, Harris will make her first nationally broadcast appeal to American voters in primetime. When the balloons drop, the presidential race between herself and former President Donald Trump will officially enter the home stretch.
In the first three days of the convention, former Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Biden all spoke in support of their party's new standard-bearer.
Former President Donald Trump called vice presidential hopeful and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s claims that Trump plans to implement Project 2025 “disgraceful” on Thursday.
“They know I have nothing to do with it. I had no idea what it was,” Trump said in a wide-ranging “Fox & Friends” interview.
The conservative policy playbook, drawn up by The Heritage Foundation, has sparked controversy as Democrats have sought to tie it to the former president. Trump has repeatedly denied having any connection to the plan.
CHICAGO—Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling told reporters Thursday morning that demonstrations the previous day hadn’t led to any arrests—a stark contrast to the dozens of arrests made on the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 20, amid chaos outside the Israeli consulate.
“Did we have a couple of dust-ups? Sure… but those things were quickly rectified,” Snelling said of the events on Wednesday, when anywhere from the high hundreds to two thousand pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered, chanted, and mostly, slowly dispersed.
The Epoch Times witnessed multiple small confrontations Wednesday, including one between protesters and Andre Williams, a veteran who was holding up an American flag.
CHICAGO—Democrats attending the party’s national convention in Chicago are split on whether they can win back control of the House of Representatives in this year’s election, they told The Epoch Times and NTD News at the Democratic National Convention.
Those who expressed confidence said that enthusiastic youth support would help them in down-ballot congressional races.
“I feel it’s going to happen. There’s just this animation, this enthusiasm, this growing momentum. The Harris–Walz team is going to carry that across the finish line,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said.
CHICAGO—Intraparty conflicts, protests, and the attempted assassination of a former president have ratcheted up political tensions as the nation prepares to select its 47th president.
As angry protesters gathered outside the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago on Aug. 20, former President Barack Obama called for unity inside.
“The vast majority of us do not want to live in a country that is bitter and divided,” Obama said, expressing confidence that Vice President Kamala Harris was the right person to bring the country together.
CHICAGO—Democrats held the third rally of their national convention on Aug. 21, making the case that Vice President Kamala Harris is a strong leader who will lead the nation to a brighter future.
The program included remarks by more than 40 speakers, including Democratic notables House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Celebrities including Stevie Wonder, Keenan Thompson, and John Legend performed.
Oprah Winfrey made an unannounced appearance. Harris was absent from the convention for a second day.
CHICAGO—Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz gave one of the most important speeches of his career on the evening of Aug. 21 at the Democratic National Convention, accepting his party’s nomination for vice president.
“It’s the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States,” Walz said to a thunderous reception on the convention’s third night.
“We’re all here tonight for one beautiful, simple reason: We love this country.”