Harris backs ceasefire deal, calls war in Gaza ‘heartbreaking’

More applause followed when Harris declared, “We trust women.”

“We trust women, and if Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it,” she said.

The United Center fills with boos as Kamala Harris talks about Donald Trump’s role in the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the decision by Republican-led states to ban abortion.

“My friends, I believe that America cannot truly prosper unless Americans are fully capable of making their own decisions about their own lives, particularly about matters of the heart and the home. But tonight, in America, too many women are unable to make those decisions, and let us be clear about how we got here,” Harris said, continuing:

Donald Trump handpicked the members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom, and now he’s bragging about it in the words, “I did it, and I’m proud that I did it.” Well, let me tell you, over the last two years I’ve traveled across our country and women have told me their stories. Husbands and fathers have shared their stories of women who miscarried in a parking lot, who developed sepsis, who lost the ability to ever have children again, all because doctors were afraid they’d go to jail for taking care of their patients, couples who were just trying to expand their families, cut off in the middle of IVF treatments.

This is what is happening in our country because of Donald Trump. And understand that he is not done with his agenda. He and his allies would restrict access to contraception, ban medication abortions, and implement a nationwide abortion ban, with or without Congress. And listen, listen, he plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator and force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions.

After all the boos, Harris received applause when he declared, “They’ve gone mad.”

Harris got the crowd to chant her campaign slogan, “We’re not going back!” after she brought up Project 2025, which would end the Department of Education and the early childhood education service Head Start.

“We are not going backward, and we are charting a new path forward, forward to a future with a strong and growing middle class, because we know that a strong middle class has always been critical to America’s success, and building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency,” she said.

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Harris now tells us how her mother influenced her career path.

“My mother was a brilliant, five-foot-tall, brown-haired woman with an accent. As the oldest child, I saw how the world treated her at times, but my mother never lost her cool,” Harris said.

“She was tough, courageous, a pioneer in the fight for women’s health, and she taught Maya and me a lesson that Michelle mentioned the other night. She taught us to never complain about injustice, but to do something about it.”

After deciding to become a lawyer, Harris shared why she wanted to become a prosecutor:

When it came time to choose what type of law I would study, I thought about a pivotal moment in my life. When I was in high school, I noticed something about my best friend, Wanda. She was sad at school and there were times when she didn’t want to go home. So one day I asked if she was okay and she confided in me that she was being sexually abused by her stepfather and I immediately told her that she should come stay with us, and she did.

This is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor: to protect people like Wanda, because I believe that everyone has the right to safety, dignity and justice.

She then talked about her upbringing by her parents, who moved around the country for different jobs and eventually divorced, and the virtues they instilled in her.

My early memories of our parents together are very joyful, a house full of laughter and music, Aretha, Coltrane and Miles in the park. My mother always said, stay close. But my father said, as he laughed, run, Kamala, run. Don’t be afraid. Don’t let anything hold you back.

She began by thanking her husband, Doug Emhoff, and then Joe Biden:

When I think of the path we have traveled together, Joe, I am filled with gratitude. Your record is inspiring, as history will show, and Doug and I love you, and Jill, and are eternally grateful to both of you.

After a very long applause and many “thank yous” “Yous,” Kamala Harris’ speech has begun.

“Okay, let’s get to the point,” the vice president said.

When Kamala Harris made a brief and surprising appearance on the opening day of the convention, she wore a brown suit, which people interpreted in all sorts of ways.

Today she’s wearing an all black suit. Make of that what you will.