Politics

Vice President Kamala Harris called on Americans to join her to "chart a new way forward" as she accepted the Democratic nomination on Thursday, arguing her personal story and prosecutorial background made her uniquely qualified to protect their interests and beat Republican Donald Trump. Taking the stage to a thunderous standing ovation at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Harris sought to introduce herself to the American public and outline her vision for leading the nation for the next four years.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger was the latest Republican to speak on the DNC stage in support of the Harris-Walz ticket. Kinzinger retired from Congress after he criticized his own party in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a bid to stop Joe Biden from becoming president.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, and that's the sort of welcome she got at the United Center. The Michigan Democrat took the stage to big cheers, telling the at-capacity crowd that she's known in Detroit as "Big Gretch," and, as a woman, knows how to "GSD - get stuff done." Talking about Harris, Whitmer said the Democratic nominee "gets us. She sees us. She is us."

The Arizona Democrat said Thursday, "I've flown into space four times. I've flown into combat nearly 40 times. Not once did I do that by myself." In a somewhat rare occurrence during the convention's closing night, Kelly invoked Trump's name, saying that the GOP nominee "skipped his intelligence briefings" because he was "too busy sucking up to dictators and dreaming of becoming one himself."

The Chicks , the Texas trio of Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer were minus their banjos, fiddle and guitar as they sang in three-part harmony (with no audible effects) at the United Center. They sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" in the same style at the 2020 convention, but that rendition was remote and prerecorded for the COVID-19-limited convention.

Rep. Maxwell Frost, the youngest and first Gen Z member of Congress, used his convention speech to talk about climate change. "This election is about every drop of water that we consume and every breath we breathe," Frost said. "Fighting the climate crisis is patriotic."

Rev. Al Sharpton is being joined onstage by members of the Exonerated Five, also referred to as the Central Park Five - five men who were falsely accused of beating and raping a woman in New York's Central Park when they were youths in the late '80s. Antron McCray is the only member of the group not on stage.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts became the second and last woman to run against Harris in 2020. Now she's at the convention that is nominating her. She was welcomed with a standing ovation and minutes-long cheers from the crowd while openly fighting back tears.

After surviving a mass shooting at a 2011 meet-and-greet event, former Rep. Gabby Giffords was joined by her husband, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, to bring light to the issue of gun violence in America.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accepted his party's nomination for vice president Wednesday night, using his Democratic National Convention address to thank the packed arena for "bringing the joy" to an election transformed by the elevation of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.