I did not want this day to go by without acknowledging how powerful VP Kamala Harris’ speech was, particularly with regard to how she prosecuted Donald Trump and the whole Republican Party for their extremism.
In this clip, she lays out exactly what Trump and his minions have planned for women, should Trump win. It’s not pretty.
Here’s the transcript:
Friends, I believe America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to make their own decisions about their own lives, especially on matters of heart and home. (Applause.) But tonight, in America, too many women are not able to make those decisions.
And let’s be clear about how we got here. Donald Trump handpicked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And now he brags about it. In his words, quote, “I did it, and I’m proud to have done it.” End quote.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I’ll tell you, over the past two years, 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. Couples just trying to grow their family, cut off in the middle of IVF treatments. Children who have survived sexual assault potentially being forced to carry a pregnancy to term.
This is what’s happening in our country because of Donald Trump. And understand, he is not done. As a part of his agenda, he and his allies would limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion, and enact a nationwide abortion ban, with or without Congress.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
And get this. Get this. He plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator and force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Simply put, they are out of their minds. (Applause.)
So, a couple of things. She indirectly invited Schumer to introduce a bill repealing the Comstock Act, something that should be done as soon as possible. Even if it wouldn’t pass, it sends a message about who is willing to protect women’s reproductive rights and who isn’t.
Also, Kamala Harris did last night what other Democrats (including Biden and Obama) wouldn’t do: Take the fight directly to their opponent, giving no quarter. Her prosecutorial instincts are killer instincts, and she uses them wisely.
Charlie Pierce put it a little differently.
Vice President Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech was not lyrical. We already had lyrical with the Obamas. And it was not folksy and jovial. We already had folksy and jovial with Tim Walz—even Santa Claus isn’t as folksy and jovial as Tim Walz. But it was strong and direct and delivered what it needed to deliver with great clarity and not a little power. There was a long biographical section at the start that dragged a little bit but nonetheless drew a stark emotional contrast with her opponent, whose biography is littered with the abandoned husks of human decency. But about midway through, she caught the prosecutor’s beam, and that seemed to energize her to a point beyond which few people had ever seen before.
Here’s what I took away from Harris’ speech last night: She isn’t a pushover and no one should think she is. She’s not going to take right-wing bullshit and she’s going to call it out when she sees it. And when she has to, she’s going to “kick that fucking door down.” But she’ll do it with a smile on her face and joy in her heart.
