Kamala Harris officially nominated for vice-president at Democratic convention – live | US news

Closing out her nomination acceptance speech, Kamala Harris cast the presidential election as “a chance to change the course of history.”

“Years from now, this moment will have passed. And our children and our grandchildren will look in our eyes and ask us: Where were you when the stakes were so high?” Harris said.

“They will ask us, what was it like? And we will tell them. We will tell them, not just how we felt.”

With that, the first Black woman and first Asian American to join a major party’s presidential ticket ended her speech.

Kamala Harris noted that Americans of color are disproportionately affected by coronavirus, blaming that discrepancy on systemic racism.

“While this virus touches us all, let’s be honest, it is not an equal opportunity offender. Black, Latino and Indigenous people are suffering and dying disproportionately,” Harris said. “This is not a coincidence. It is the effect of structural racism.”

The vice presidential nominee said Americans would have to “do the work” to change the systemic racism plaguing the country.

“This virus has no eyes, and yet it knows exactly how we see each other—and how we treat each other,” Harris said. “And let’s be clear—there is no vaccine for racism. We’ve gotta do the work.”

Kamala Harris said her mother could never have imagined that her daughter would be joining a presidential ticket tonight.

With that, Harris said, “I accept your nomination for vice president of the United States of America.”

In a normal year, that line would have been met with booming applause. Instead, Harris’ historic announcement was greeted only with silence in the mostly empty Delaware event site where she is delivering her speech.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris is now delivering her acceptance speech from Joe Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.

Continuing the theme of celebrating women’s suffrage, Harris paid homage to the women who helped bring her to this moment, including her mother.

Harris said her mother helped guide her to a path of public service by teaching her to be “conscious and compassionate about the struggles of all people.”

Recounting her fights to take on big banks and for-profit colleges, Harris threw a clear jab at Trump, saying “I know a predator when I see one.”

California Senator Kamala Harris has formally received the Democratic vice presidential nomination, becoming the first Black woman and first Asian-American to join a major party’s presidential ticket.

Bypassing a roll call vote, convention chairman Bennie Thompson said, “I hereby declare that Kamala Harris is elected as the Democratic candidate for Vice President.”

Before Harris delivered her acceptance speech, she was introduced by her sister Maya Harris, her niece Meena Harris and her stepdaughter Ella Emhoff.

Barack Obama closed his speech the same way he opened it: by arguing that Trump’s potential reelection represent a fundamental threat to American democracy.

“This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win,” Obama said. “So we have to get busy building it up – by pouring all our effort into these 76 days, and by voting like never before.”

While Barack Obama spoke at the DNC, Donald Trump tweeted a lie. In an all caps tweets, the president baselessly accused Obama of spying on the Trump campaign.

Fact check: FBI Director Chris Wray has said there was no evidence the FBI illegally monitored Trump’s campaign during the 2016 election.

– Maanvi Singh

Barack Obama directly addressed Americans who may feel disenchanted with politics after four years of witnessing Trump in office.

“Well, here’s the point: this president and those in power – those who benefit from keeping things the way they are – they are counting on your cynicism,” Obama said.

The former president argued Republicans were actively trying to dissuade disappointed voters from casting their ballots.

“That’s how a democracy withers, until it’s no democracy at all,” Obama warned. “We can’t let that happen. Do not let them take away your power. Don’t let them take away your democracy.”

Barack Obama asked Americans to remember their own important role in protecting and strengthening the country’s democracy.

“No single American can fix this country alone. Not even a president,” Obama said. “It requires an active and informed citizenry. So I am also asking you to believe in your own ability – to embrace your own responsibility as citizens – to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure.

“Because that’s what at stake right now. Our democracy.”