Kamala Harris’ DNC speech: Highlights, takeaways

Kamala Harris Democratic National Convention Speech The move served two purposes: introducing herself to the American people and revealing her intention to prosecute the case against Donald Trump.

Harris picked familiar targets: Trump’s attacks on democracy, his tax policies and his record against abortion rights. But she took a slightly different tack with each.

Democrats (and critics) have been warning about the threat Trump poses to democracy for years, but Harris linked this to criticisms of his character — that he is fundamentally only concerned with “himself” and not the feelings of ordinary Americans.

Experts have been sounding the alarm about Trump’s policy of imposing a 10% tariff on all imports, but Harris reframed the plan as the “Trump tax.”

Finally, Harris asked voters to trust Trump to side with allies who push for sweeping anti-abortion policies, rather than trust his views on the issue during the campaign.

Harris called Trump “an unserious person” but argued that the consequences of returning him to the White House were “extremely serious.” Part of that involved rehashing his attempts to steal the 2020 election (“he tried to waste your votes”) and his criminal conviction (“for a completely different crime, he was convicted of fraud”).

But Harris debate Next time it might be worse because Supreme Court ruling Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the president broad immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office. “Imagine Donald Trump without guardrails,” Harris said. “He would use the enormous power of the president of the United States. Not to improve your life. Not to strengthen our national security. But to serve his only client: himself.”

This is an important realization Democratic issues It’s not just a repetition that Trump is a convicted felon or that January 6 was a bad thing. In fact, Harris sees Trump’s conviction as a small part of a larger argument that he is a fundamentally corrupt person, unfit to be president, who only cares about himself and not ordinary Americans.

Later, in a discussion of foreign policy, she was more blunt. “Trump doesn’t hold dictators accountable,” she said, “because he wants to be a dictator.”

On economic policy, Harris went on to characterize Trump as fighting “for himself and his billionaire friends” rather than the middle class. “He’s going to give them another round of tax cuts that’s going to add $5 trillion to the national debt,” Harris said. But she also zeroed in on one of Trump’s policies, Not enough attention has been paid.

One of Trump’s main campaign proposals this year is 10% tariff A 15% tariff on all foreign goods imported into the United States—a policy that has been criticized by many because it can lead to Price increase The cost to Americans of buying such goods is high. Yet Democrats haven’t really attacked Trump effectively, perhaps in part because the word “tariffs” is boring and turns people off.

So Harris chose another word. “He’s going to implement what is effectively a nationwide sales tax — call it the Trump tax — that would increase the cost of living for middle-class families by nearly $4,000 a year,” she said. (By contrast, she said, she would support a middle-class tax cut that “would benefit more than 100 million Americans.”)

Typically, Republicans claim that their opponents’ proposed tax increases sound scary, and Democrats have a hard time defending themselves. But attacking the “Trump tax” seems like a smart and potentially effective way to target Trump’s tariff proposals. Expect to hear more of it as the campaign continues.

On the issue of abortion rights, Harris first made it clear that it was Trump’s “hand-picked United States Supreme Court justices” who overturned abortion rights. (A surprising number of voters in swing states) Holding a false belief Biden did it.)

Harris cited Trump’s Comment Concedes to overthrow at Fox News town hall Roe v. WadeShe then pivoted to arguing that a second Trump term would bring dire developments for reproductive rights:

“As part of his agenda, he and his allies would restrict access to birth control, ban medication abortions and enact a national ban on abortions without congressional approval. He also plans to create a national pro-life coordinator and force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions.”

“In short,” she continued, “they’re crazy.”

Now, Trump hasn’t actually said he would do any of these things. hazy How he would handle abortion policy if re-elected has been questioned, but he has generally said he would try to leave things up to the states.

But Harris suggested he was lying and that, in fact, he would end up siding with some leading anti-abortion rights allies in making extreme proposals.

Proposals to restrict access to certain birth control methods and revoke federal approval of medication abortion drugs 2025 Project – A policy plan for the next Republican president that was laid out by conservative supporters, including many former Trump appointees, and which Trump is now trying to disavow in part because it has become a political liability for him.

Harris’ suggestion that Trump and his allies would impose a nationwide ban on abortion is unlikely to prove true. Such a sweeping proposal is not even on the 2025 agenda, and some on the right consider it politically impossible (although anti-abortion rights groups would ideally like to see it happen).

But it is difficult for Trump to refute these criticisms because he did appoint those who overturned roeThe reality is that anti-abortion rights activists are one of the most important and loyal constituencies for Trump and the Republican Party, and they are doing everything they can politically to restrict abortion rights.

Trump’s anti-abortion allies dictated his stance on the issue during his first inaugural term. Harris hopes to demonstrate that they will do so again if he wins a second term.