Harris vows ‘new way forward’ as she criticises Trump’s abortion stance
21 August 2024, 03:44
The Democratic presidential nominee spoke to the party’s convention in Chicago during an appearance in Milwaukee.
Kamala Harris rallied thousands of voters at a rally in the arena where Republicans held their convention last month.
While the Democratic National Convention continued in Chicago, the party’s presidential nominee told a rally in Milwaukee – in the battleground state of Wisconsin – that she was running “a people-powered campaign”.
“Together we will chart a new way forward,” the Vice President said in remarks that were partially broadcast to the convention. “A future for freedom, opportunity, of optimism and faith.”
Joined in Milwaukee by running mate Tim Walz, she drew attention to Republican rival Donald Trump saying on Monday he had “no regrets” about appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v Wade and ended the constitutional right to abortion.
“That’s because he hasn’t had to face the consequences,” she said. “Women and families have. Well, we will make sure he does face the consequence at the ballot box this November.
“They seemingly don’t trust women. Well, we trust women.”
She argued that Mr Trump threatens the values and freedoms that Americans hold dear and said someone with his record “should never again have the opportunity to stand behind the seal of the president of the United States”.
As they awaited the speech, her supporters listened to the roll call at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago which confirmed Ms Harris’ nomination. She was officially nominated earlier this month in a virtual roll call of delegates.
Via a video link she told the convention: “I thank everyone there and here for believing in what we can do together.”
She told supporters in Milwaukee that there was a contrast between herself and Mr Trump: one vision “focused on the future” and another “focused on the past”.
“We know this is going to be a tight race until the very end,” she said. “We have hard work ahead of us but we like hard work. Hard work is good work. And with your help, this November we will win.”
She wrapped up her roughly 25-minute remarks in Milwaukee with one of the signature call-and-response mantras of her campaign: “When we fight, we win.”
Texas Democrats used their roll call moment in Chicago to bring light to the issue of abortion rights, with TV actress and Texas native Eva Longoria introducing former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards.
Kate Cox, who was denied emergency abortion care by the Texas Supreme Court, told conventiongoers about her experience after the overturning of Roe v Wade. “Because of these abortion bans I had to flee my home,” Ms Cox said in an emotional moment.
“There’s nothing pro-life about letting women suffer and even die.”
She added that she is now pregnant and her baby is due in January, in time to see Ms Harris sworn in as president.
Mr Trump told a rally in Howell, Michigan, on Tuesday that Ms Harris was the “ringleader” of a “Marxist attack on law enforcement” across the country.
“Kamala Harris will deliver crime, chaos, destruction and death,” he said in one of many generalisations about an America under Ms Harris.
