WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th August, 2020) US Senator Kamala Harris officially accepted the Democratic Party's vice presidential nomination in a speech that accused President Donald Trump of lacking in leadership, a promise to fight racial injustice and to unite the country while restoring alliances around the world.
On Tuesday, Joe Biden was officially nominated to be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee after a roll call vote of delegates at a largely virtual convention which is nominally being hosted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Biden will deliver his acceptance speech from Delaware on Thursday, wrapping up the four-day convention.
"We are a nation that is grieving," Harris said after she accepted the nomination for vice president during a live-streamed broadcast on Wednesday night. "Grieving the loss of life, the loss of jobs, the loss of opportunities, the loss of normalcy, and yes, the loss of certainty."
Harris, a former California attorney general who dropped out of the Primary race early on, would become the first female vice president in US history if the Biden ticket prevails over Trump in November's election.
Harris said that minority groups are suffering disproportionately in the United States from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) because of structural racism, including inequities in education and technology, health care and housing, job security and transportation.
"There is no vaccine for racism," Harris said.
America most do more work on behalf of George Floyd and other minority victims of police violence, she said, adding that "none of us are free, until all of are free."
Harris also praised a "new generation" of Americans who are protesting to hold Washington accountable.
The themes of the night included gun violence, climate change, immigration, women's rights and the recovery of the US economy.
Former President Barack Obama in his remarks accused Trump of treating the presidency like a reality television show. Obama also said Trump has diminished America's "proud reputation around the world," and threatens democratic institutions.
Obama also made a case that Biden will rescue the US economy and restore the United States' standing in the world.
During Obama's remarks, Trump called out the former president on his long wait to endorse Biden during the Democratic primaries.
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton warned voters against complacency in light of what happened to her in 2016.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who became the first woman speaker of the House in 2007, took shots at Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for standing in the way of passing gun control legislation and further coronavirus relief, among other progressive measures.
Senator Elizabeth Warner, who also ran in the Democratic primary race, vouched for Biden's economic recovery plan, including plans for creating clean energy jobs.
Biden formally secured 3,558 delegates after Tuesday's roll call vote. Candidates needed 1,991 delegates to win the Democratic Party's primary, a threshold Biden reached in June after Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race.
The Republican National Convention is scheduled to take place August 21-24 at Charlotte, North Carolina. Trump said he will deliver his acceptance speech from the White House lawn.
