CHICAGO — As Kamala Harris delivered the most consequential speech of her career on Thursday, she did something she has done countless times as a former prosecutor: She made a case, this time for why she’s the perfect person for Democrats to beat Donald Trump, even under unprecedented circumstances.
“America, the path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected,” Harris said as she opened her speech. “But I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys.”
The capstone convention speech captured the stakes for a candidate who could make history as the first woman president, if she manages to defeat a former president who still has multiple paths to victory.
At nearly every turn, Harris juxtaposed herself with Trump, on issues ranging from reproductive rights to foreign policy. She argued that her vision for “freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness and endless possibilities” was a better one for the country than Trump’s, arguing that he wanted to “pull our country back into the past.”
With just weeks for voters to adjust to the new Democratic candidate and just over two months remaining before election day, Harris seized on the chance to introduce herself to the voters who hardly knew her. To do that, Harris leaned on her personal narrative — the speech was littered with anecdotes that aides say she’s reticent to give. But tonight, she used her own story to cast herself as the natural foil to Trump.
That included her upbringing in the middle class, where her mother “kept a strict budget,” to her background as a prosecutor looking out for the public interest — a riff meant to contrast with a man whose actions before, during and since his time in the White House have drawn legal scrutiny.
“My entire career,” Harris said. “I’ve only had one client: the people.”
“The only client he has ever had is himself,” she added.
Her speech was a moment that wasn’t meant to happen. Had things gone according to plan, a vigorous Joe Biden would have been the one addressing the Democratic National Convention, showcasing his record, squaring off with Trump and selling his vision for a second term.
Instead, Harris took center stage, while Biden watched from Santa Barbara, California.
In the room, the audience paid close attention to Harris. For other speeches, there was movement within the convention hall. But as she spoke, Democrats were still, listening.
Midway through her speech, more than a dozen people carrying giant wrapped-up flags fanned out across the floor among the delegates. As the crowd chanted “we’re not going back,” they stood in position to release them at the perfect moment.
Harris was not only speaking to the national audience that had tuned in — she also spoke directly to her family, who was seated in the front row, just steps from the stage, including her sister, Maya Harris, and her husband, Doug Emhoff. She gave Emhoff a shoutout at the start of her speech, wishing him a happy anniversary.
On policy, Harris contrasted her platform to Trump and the Trump-aligned Heritage Foundation’s conservative blueprint for his second term, Project 2025. (Though the Trump campaign has tried to distance itself from the initiative, some of his greatest allies are behind the 900-some-page manifesto.)
In Trump’s second term, Harris said, he would enact a nationwide abortion ban, institute a “Trump tax hike” on the middle class and eliminate the Department of Education.
“Simply put, they are out of their minds,” she said to raucous applause.
Harris portrayed herself as a competent, commonsense leader. She leaned into her broad policy proposals, which included a tax cut for the middle class and enacting the bipartisan border-security deal brokered in the Senate — and railroaded by Republicans — earlier this year.
“I refuse to play politics with our security,” she said.
Harris paid particular attention to foreign policy, vowing to combat Vladmir Putin’s aggression and defend U.S. allies like Ukraine. On the war in Gaza — the Democratic Party’s most divisive issue — Harris struck a diplomatic tone. As scattered protesters chanted “free Palestine,” Harris maintained that Israel had a right to defend itself and acknowledged the “heartbreaking” suffering in Gaza.
As she outlined a path forward, Harris went further than Biden in issuing support for Palestinian “self-determination.”
“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 crowd erupted in applause.
Whether or not voters agree with her approach to the war in Gaza, Harris insisted she’d be a steadier hand in a dangerous world than her freewheeling opponent.
“Trump won’t hold autocrats accountable because he wants to be an autocrat,” she said to another round of cheers.
But Harris’ speech wasn’t just about promoting her platform or bashing Trump’s. It was also about capitalizing on the enthusiasm and sense of urgency buoying her run. Democrats are desperate to maintain momentum for Harris’ candidacy so as not to dim the party’s newly bright prospects of beating Trump and Republicans down the ballot in November.
“Together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told,” Harris said.
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Riley Rogerson and Jasmine Wright are reporters at NOTUS. Calen Razor is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.