Vice President Kamala Harris thanked her fellow Democrats for nominating her to be their presidential candidate Tuesday, beaming into the Chicago party convention from the nearby and electorally key state of Wisconsin.
“The delegates at the Democratic national convention, well, they just completed their roll call. And they have nominated Coach Walz and me to be the next vice president and president of the United States of America!” she told a big crowd in Milwaukee at the Fiserv Forum arena, referring to her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Walz is a former football coach.
“I thank everyone there and here for believing in what we can do together. We are so honored to be your nominees,” she said. “I’ll see you in two days, Chicago!”
Tuesday, which saw convention delegates hold a ceremonial roll call to confirm an earlier one where Harris was formally named the nominee, was the second day in a row Harris had made remarks to the convention. On Monday night, she briefly appeared on the convention stage to say thanks to and praise President Joe Biden, an appearance which appeared to take many, including Walz, off guard.
Harris’ speech to the Milwaukee crowd again touted her “opportunity economy” idea, which she defined as an economy “where every American has the opportunity to own a home, start a business and build wealth, including intergenerational wealth.”
She used that as a springboard to talk about her economic proposals unveiled Friday to make housing more affordable, provide tax breaks for families with children and bring down food prices by increasing competition.
She took her opponent, Donald Trump, to task for being callous about the consequences of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that threw out the nearly 50-year Roe v. Wade precedent. Trump has bragged that he got Roe overturned, opening the door for states to enact total or partial bans on abortion.
“I do believe bad behavior should result in a consequence,” Harris said, as the crowd cheered. “We will make sure he does face a consequence and that will be at the ballot box in November!”
Harris stopped her speech for about two minutes to call attention to a crowd member who she saw needed medical attention. “Let’s make a path, if y’all don’t mind. Let’s make a path,” she told the crowd.
Once she was satisfied the audience member would be OK, she resumed speaking, but used the scare to again draw a contrast with Trump.
“This is who we are, right? This is what we’re about, looking out for each other,” she said.
“It’s about truly understanding what ‘love thy neighbor’ means. It’s about, in the face of a perfect stranger, seeing a neighbor, understanding what that love of each other means,” she told the crowd.
“It’s a big difference between what we’re talking about and what’s on the other side.”