US Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday evening, vowing to be a "president of all Americans."
"I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations," Harris said during her speech on the final night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois.
"A president who leads and listens, who is realistic, practical and has common sense and always fights for the American people," she said.
"From the courthouse to the White House, that has always been my life's work," she added.
She noted that the November presidential elections are "one of the most important in the life of our nation."
Harris later went on to say that her Republican rival, Donald Trump, is an "unserious man" and the consequences of putting Trump back in the White House are "extremely serious."
"Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes. When he failed, he sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol, where they assaulted law enforcement officers," she said, referring to the Jan. 6, 2021 US Capitol riot.
"For an entirely different set of crimes, he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans and separately found liable for committing sexual abuse," she added.
Harris later criticized Trump for his stance on abortion and the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, which had protected the rights of women to seek abortions, saying that too many women in the US are not able to make their own decisions about their own lives.
"I've traveled across our country. And women have told me their stories. Husbands and fathers have shared theirs. Stories of women miscarrying in a parking lot, developing sepsis, losing the ability to ever again have children. All because doctors are afraid they may go to jail for caring for their patients," she said.
Harris said she and President Joe Biden are "working around the clock" to get a Gaza cease-fire and hostage deal "done."
"I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the war that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on Oct. 7," she said.
"At the same time," she continued, "what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again," she said.
Harris said the scale of suffering in Gaza is "heartbreaking," adding: "President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination."
She said the US must also be "steadfast" in advancing its security and values abroad.
"I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world," she said, while noting that her rival Trump "threatened to abandon NATO."
