Harris makes history and Obama issues warning: key takeaways from the DNC's third night
Kamala Harris formally accepted the Democratic vice-presidential nomination on Wednesday, the third night of the party’s virtual convention.
Harris’s historic acceptance speech capped off a night of Democrats celebrating women’s suffrage and pleading with voters to protect American democracy.
Related: Obama delivers searing attack on Trump and warns of grave threat to democracy
Here are the key takeaways:
Harris made history as she became the first Black woman and first Asian American to join a major party’s presidential ticket. Harris underscored the historic nature of her nomination by reflecting on the women who had helped her reach the moment, including her mother, who emigrated to America from India. Harris said of her: “She probably could have never imagined that I would be standing before you now speaking these words: I accept your nomination for vice-president of the United States of America.”
Barack Obama delivered a dire message calling for voters to protect American democracy. The former president argued that Donald Trump’s potential re-election posed an existential threat to the country’s democratic values and institutions, and he implored voters to “embrace your own responsibility as citizens” ahead of November’s election.
“This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win,” Obama warned. “So we have to get busy building it up – by pouring all our effort into these 76 days, and by voting like never before.”
Hillary Clinton reflected on her own election loss. The 2016 Democratic nominee said she had met many Americans who have told her they wish they could go back to 2016 and vote differently, or just vote. “This can’t be another woulda-coulda-shoulda election,” Clinton said. The former secretary of state, who lost the electoral college but won the popular vote in 2016, also reminded voters: “Joe and Kamala can win 3 million more votes and still lose. Take it from me. We need numbers so overwhelming Trump can’t sneak or steal his way to victory.”
The night was dedicated to celebrating women’s political participation, culminating in Harris’ nomination. Several of the most prominent women in the Democratic party, including the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, addressed the convention, and Democrats played a video commemorating the hundredth anniversary of American women gaining the right to vote. Harris honored that history in her acceptance speech, while emphasizing that Black women such as herself had to work even longer to get access to the ballot box. “That I am here tonight is a testament to the dedication of generations before me,” Harris said. “Women and men who believed so fiercely in the promise of equality, liberty, and justice for all.”
Gabrielle Giffords provided the most emotional moment of the night. The former congresswoman suffered brain damage after she was shot at an event with constituents in 2011. During a segment on gun control, Giffords said:
“Today, I struggle with speech, but I have not lost my voice. America needs all of us to speak out, even when you have to fight to find the words.”
A spokesperson for Giffords said she spent “countless hours” working to deliver the speech, the longest she has delivered since she survived the shooting.
