Chicago. US President Joe Biden on Tuesday night rejected political violence by asking an excited audience if they were ready to vote for “freedom” in November and elect Vice President Kamala Harris to the White House.
“There is no place in America for political violence, and you cannot love your country only when you win,” Biden said, referring to former President Donald Trump but stopping short of mentioning him, adopting a more sober tone as he began his speech.
Biden’s speech began, however, on a positive note. He was greeted by attendees at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago with applause and shouts of “We love you Joe” while waving blue banners with the same message and red hearts.
Biden, who was emotional as he walked onto the stage at the United Center preceded by his daughter Ashley, said the country is at an “inflection point. One of those rare moments in history when the decisions we make now determine the fate of a country and the world.”
The president, who succumbed to internal pressure from this same party a month ago and renounced re-election in favor of Harris, said that during the presidency of Republican Donald Trump (2017-2021), Nazis, supremacists and even the KKK “became emboldened” because they saw him as an “ally.” With Trump, “they no longer bothered to put on their hoods,” Biden said.
In this review of the last few years following Trump’s emergence in politics and his victory over the Republican in the 2020 elections, Biden said: “democracy prevailed (after the assault by Trump supporters on the Capitol in January 2021 before his inauguration), we have delivered results and now democracy must prevail.”
The power of women
Biden said Trump would “unlock the power of women” in the November election, where women are expected to play a central role in defending abortion rights.
“Trump will unlock the power of women in 2024!” Biden declared, prompting thunderous applause at the stadium hosting the Democratic convention.
Harris is positioning abortion as a central issue in her campaign and is confident that this strategy will mobilize female voters, replicating the success achieved in the 2022 midterm elections, when Democrats achieved better than expected results in Congress.
Kamala’s surprise
Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance at the Democratic convention in Chicago and encouraged attendees to vote to defeat Trump. “When we fight, we win,” said the leader, to applause, after entering the stage unexpectedly to the rhythm of the song ‘Freedom’ by the artist Beyoncé, a piece that has already become her unofficial campaign anthem.
That phrase “when we fight, we win” has become one of the central slogans of his campaign.
The vice president took advantage of her surprise intervention to thank Bien for his political work and his “historic leadership.” “We will be forever grateful to you (…) for a life of service to the nation and everything you will continue to do,” Harris told thousands of party delegates, who greeted her with an outburst of cheers and applause at the United Center, a stadium where the convention is being held this week.
Hillary Clinton: “This is our moment”
Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton encouraged Vice President Kamala Harris to break the glass ceiling, in an emotional speech where she included the current campaign in the history of the feminist struggle in the United States.
“When a barrier falls for one of us, it falls for all of us,” said Clinton, who in 2016 became the first woman to win the presidential nomination from one of the two major U.S. political parties.
Dressed in a white suit, the same color she wore in the first presidential debate against former President Donald Trump in 2016 and which pays homage to the suffragette movement, Clinton presented Harris as the “freedom” candidate.
“Together we have put many cracks in the highest ceiling and today we are very close to finally breaking it,” said the former Secretary of State.
“On the other side of those cracks, I see freedom to make our own decisions and to work with dignity and prosperity,” he insisted.
“Something is happening in the United States. You can feel it. Something we have been working on, dreaming about, for a long time,” he said.
