CHICAGO (AP) — Kamala Harris urged Americans on Thursday to reject political divisions and as a substitute chart what she called a “new way forward” by accepting her party’s nomination, while also weaving a biography with warnings against reelecting Donald Trump to the White House.

Taking the stage to a thunderous standing ovation on the closing of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the vp argued that her personal experiences and her experience as a prosecutor make her uniquely qualified to defend the interests of Americans against a former president she portrayed as driven only by his own interests.

“This election offers our nation a precious, fleeting opportunity to move beyond the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past,” Harris said. “A chance to chart a new path forward. Not as members of a party or a faction, but as Americans.”

The daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, Harris became the primary Black woman and person of South Asian descent to accept a serious party’s presidential nomination and would grow to be the primary female president if elected. Harris didn’t explicitly address the historic events she was expected to set in her 40-minute speech, and she or he only mentioned the words “Democrat” or “Republican” within the context of discussing the bipartisan border bill that Trump helped kill earlier this 12 months and that she has promised to sign if elected.

Her speech — and the Democratic convention overall — was designed to appeal to a broad swath of Americans, not only partisans already motivated by Harris’ rise after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid. She made several implicit appeals to a broad swath of voters who were dissatisfied with each White House options just weeks ago, particularly those dissatisfied with Trump, a degree underscored by the looks of several individuals who have broken with the forty fifth president while embracing the policies and approaches of Biden, the forty sixth.

Her large mixed-race family joined the normal balloon drop. Earlier, two of her great-granddaughters led a packed United Center, teaching people how to pronounce her name, which suggests lotus in Sanskrit.

“America, the path that has brought me here in recent weeks has undoubtedly been unexpected,” Harris said. “But I am no stranger to unlikely journeys.”

Harris reintroduces himself

Raised primarily by her mother in a small apartment in San Francisco’s East Bay after her parents divorced, Harris described being raised by friends and caregivers who were a “love interest family.” She also detailed a key part of her political origin story, when Wanda, her best friend from highschool, confided in her that she had been molested by her stepfather and moved in with the Harris family.

“That’s one of the reasons I became a prosecutor. To protect people like Wanda,” Harris said.

Describing her work as a prosecutor, state attorney general, senator and now vp, Harris declared, “Throughout my career, I’ve had only one client: the people.” Meanwhile, she said Trump has acted solely within the interests of “the only client he’s ever had: himself.”

As she walked on stage, she saw a sea of ​​Democratic delegates and supporters wearing white — the colour of women’s suffrage, a movement that culminated when American women gained the appropriate to vote in 1920.

Harris was delivering a speech on the tenth anniversary of her wedding to her husband, Doug Emhoff, whom she called “Dougie” on stage and who blew her a kiss from the stands initially of his speech.

She and other speakers addressed Republicans directly.

Harris made a direct appeal to Republicans who don’t support Trump to put aside their partisan labels and support her over Trump, who has denied his 2020 election loss to Biden, which inspired the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“I know there are people of all political persuasions watching tonight, and I want you to know that I promise to be a president for all Americans,” Harris said. “I promise to be a president for all Americans, to preserve America’s sacred constitutional principles, founding principles, from the rule of law and fair elections to the peaceful transition of power.”

The convention gave the foremost speaking slot to former Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a Republican critic of Trump, who said: “Any policy we disagree on pales in comparison to these fundamental questions of principle. Decency. Allegiance to this nation. To my fellow Republicans: If you still pledge allegiance to those principles, I suspect you belong here, too.”

Harris cited her prosecutorial past as she repeatedly referred to Trump’s “clear intent” to release those that attacked law enforcement officers on the Capitol, jail political opponents and use the military against American residents.

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“Consider what he intends to do if we give him power again,” she added.

Trump, calling Fox News after Harris’ speech, responded to the speech by asking, “Why didn’t she do what she’s complaining about?”

“It was a lot of complaining. She didn’t talk about China. She didn’t talk about fracking. She didn’t talk about crime,” Trump continued, adding, “Other than that, it was a nice-looking room.”

Harris vows to defend alliances and abortion access

Delivering her most pointed remarks on national security since becoming a presidential candidate, Harris pledged to strengthen U.S. ties with NATO allies and said the country must proceed to support Ukraine in its war with Russia. Trump and his vice presidential nominee, J.D. Vance, have repeatedly questioned U.S. support for Ukraine.

“I will never waver in my defense of America’s security and ideals because I know where I stand in the ongoing struggle between democracy and tyranny, and I know where the United States stands,” she said.

The vp also promised to work to end Israel’s war with Hamas, which could stabilize the situation within the region, while not hesitating to protect U.S. forces from aggression by Iran and other adversaries.

While she pledged to “always defend Israel’s right to self-defense” after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and pressed for the discharge of hostages and the implementation of a ceasefire, she also highlighted the plight of Palestinian civilians. Pro-Palestinian protesters and members of the “nonaligned” movement at the world slammed the convention organizers for not inviting the Palestinian-American on stage.

“What has happened in Gaza over the last 10 months has been devastating, so many innocent lives have been lost,” Harris said. “Desperate, hungry people have fled for safety time and again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.”

Promising to restore nationwide access to abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Harris slammed Trump and Republicans who enabled abortion bans in two dozen states and wanted to go further.

“They are crazy,” Harris said.

Harris has been under scrutiny within the month since she displaced Biden atop the Democratic ticket for avoiding policy details. She has made sweeping guarantees on a variety of key policy areas, from expanding voting rights to lowering housing costs, passing tax cuts for the center class and strengthening border security.

Harris also highlighted her law enforcement experience, including time spent as district attorney in San Francisco and attorney general of California. She was later elected to the U.S. Senate and ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.

Her campaign collapsed before a single vote was forged in the first, but Biden selected her as his vice presidential running mate, catapulting her onto the national stage.

Although Harris initially struggled to find her footing as vp, her popularity soared when she became the administration’s leading abortion rights advocate after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Democrats used anger over that call to stave off their losses in recent midterm elections.

When Biden stumbled in a debate with Trump in June, Harris defended him until he decided to drop out of the race. With his endorsement, she quickly united the Democratic Party behind her candidacy, resetting a presidential race that Trump seemed well on his way to winning.

Addressing her supporters after her speech, Harris expressed confidence but encouraged them to proceed campaigning by pretending they were behind.

“Have a party tonight, we have a lot of work to do in the next 75 days,” she said. “We will win this.”