Kamala Harris formally accepts presidential nomination in DNC speech

CHICAGO - The Democratic National Convention closed on Thursday with Vice President Kamala Harris officially accepting the presidential nomination, capping what has been weeks of turmoil and surprises within the political party. 

The theme for the fourth and final night was "For Our Future," addressing the stakes of the upcoming election, framing it as a choice between a dangerous return to Trump’s policies and a hopeful future under Harris and Walz.

Here's what we know so far (estimated times are in Eastern Standard Time):

11:15 p.m. ET

After speaking for about 37 minutes, Harris wrapped up her speech and was joined on stage by her husband, Doug Emhoff, along with running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his wife, Gwen.

Family members began to play with some of the 100,000 red, white and blue balloons that began to cascade from netting where they’d been held in the ceiling all week.

11:10 p.m. ET

In a stunning departure from the Biden campaign, Harris made the U.S.'s most forceful message yet on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

The vice president said that she would "always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself," while pushing for the release of the hostages and the implementation of a cease-fire deal.

"At the same time, what has happened in Gaza in the last 10 months is devastating, so many innocent lives lost," Harris said. "Desperate, hungry people fleeing to safety over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking."

Harris made a forceful defense of Ukraine and NATO in her speech as she lambasted Trump’s past comments on the war in Ukraine.

"As President, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies," Harris said.

Harris touted that five days before Russia invaded Ukraine, "I warned President Zelenskyy" and helped lead the U.S. diplomatic response in rallying "more than 50 countries."

11:00 p.m. ET

The loudest applause came after Harris made a plea to all across the aisle, saying that she pledged to uphold the rule of law.

"I promise to be a president for all Americans, to hold sacred America’s constitutional principles, fundamental principles, from the rule of law and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power," she said.

Harris issued warnings about how Trump’s prior willingness to violate the law indicates a willingness for a reckless second term if he’s elected to the White House again.

The former prosecutor listed off Trump’s conviction in the New York fraud case, as well as the judgment against him in the E. Jean Carroll case.

"Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States, not to improve your life, not to strengthen our national security but to serve the only client that he has ever had: himself," Harris warned.

"We are not going back" chants broke out in the venue as Harris criticized Trump’s record and began outlining her vision for the nation.

"We are charting a new way forward, forward to a future with a strong middle class," Harris said. "And building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency."

10:30 p.m. ET

Harris walked on the stage for the fourth and final night of the DNC. She was greeted by an ovation that spanned nearly 3 minutes before she was able to begin her speech.

"OK, let’s get to business," Harris said after thunderous cheers drowned out her attempts to get started. "And happy anniversary, Dougie," she said, marking their 10th wedding anniversary.

In an emotional tribute to her mother and father, Harris talked about the lessons she learned from both her parents who divorced when she was young. "My mother would stay, stay close," she said. "But my father would say as he smiled, ‘Run Kamala! Run! Don’t be afraid. Don’t let anything stop you.’"

In her 2020 presidential bid, Harris often spoke of her role as a prosecutor and the personal experiences that inspired her to take on that career.

She also reflected, verbatim, several lines that date back to least her 2019 campaign launch, saying that she always introduced herself as "Kamala Harris, for the people."

Afterward, Harris said that she accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, to a roaring, sign-waving crowd.

10:24 p.m. ET

Harris’ sister spoke, as the VP often does, talking about her mother’s support in her daughters growing up to be strong women.

Maya Harris said that her mother "was a trailblazer who defied the odds and defied herself."

"Kamala’s entire life has been about fighting for each of us to have that freedom," Maya Harris said, of her sister.

Getting choked up, Maya Harris said she wished her mother could be present in the hall tonight, saying she could envision seeing her smiling and saying "how proud she is of Kamala," before telling "all of us to roll up our sleeves and get to work."

10:15 p.m. ET

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took the stage to big cheers, telling the 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."

But of the GOP nominee, Whitmer went on, "Donald Trump doesn’t know you, at all."

"Hell, you think he’s even been to a grocery store?" Whitmer asked, implying Trump is out of touch with the needs of everyday Americans.

9:44 p.m. ET

Sen. Mark Kelly joked during his remarks, saying that while former President Barack Obama had to follow former first lady Michelle Obama, he had to follow after his wife Rep. Gabby Giffords and P!NK. 

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."

9:43 p.m. ET

Harris arrived at the United Center to deliver her speech accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination for president.

She will be the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to be their party’s presidential nominee.

9:39 p.m. ET

Singer P!NK was joined by her daughter, 12-year-old Willow Sage Hart, and sang "What About Us." 

The two, wearing black and accompanied by only a few backup singers and an acoustic guitar, harmonized in sober but heartfelt tones on the 2017 protest song Pink co-wrote.

"What about all the broken happy ever afters?" the mother and daughter sang. "What about all the plans that ended in disaster?"

9:27 p.m. ET

Rep. Lucy McBath of Georgia, who has become one of the top congressional advocates against gun violence, spoke of how she lost her son Jordan to gun violence in 2012.

"They should still be here," Newtown, Connecticut, teacher Abbey Clements said of the students and staff killed at her elementary school in 2012.

Kim Rubio of Uvalde, Texas, recalled the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School where her daughter was killed.

Melody McFadden of Charleston, South Carolina, said her niece was 22 when she was shot to death in Myrtle Beach in 2014. Edgar Vilchez of Chicago said he "learned how to hide and how to drop" in school, to escape violence, but that there are also lessons in "writing the story that we choose to" when it comes to lessening gun violence.

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.

"Kamala can beat the gun lobby and can beat gun trafficking," said Giffords, who opened the Giffords Law Center to track and analyze firearm legislation in all 50 states.

9:05 p.m. ET

The Chicks sang the national anthem before actress Kerry Washington took the stage as the host for the rest of the evening. 

The Chicks have never been shy about getting into the political mix.

They dropped the "Dixie" from the front of their name — timed to the release of "March, March," a song about social justice — amid the nationwide George Floyd protests and a surge in Black Lives Matter sentiment.

In 2003 during the run-up to the Iraq War, Maines said on stage in London that they were ashamed that President George W. Bush was from Texas.

That led to a big backlash and exile from many country circles. They turned the negative attention into one of their biggest hits, 2006’s "Not Ready to Make Nice."

8:37 p.m. ET

NBA player and Olympic gold medalist Stephen Curry joined the DNC virtually to throw his support behind Harris. 

Welcomed by big cheers from the thousands packed into the United Center for the convention’s closing night, Curry said his amped-up feeling of patriotism during the recent Olympics drove home for him that "Kamala Harris as president will bring that unity back."

Curry, who plays for the Golden State Warriors, who said last month that he supported Harris, closed by saying, "The Oval Office would suit her well. In the words of Michelle Obama, do something. Go vote."

Earlier this week, Curry’s Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr took the DNC stage to endorse Harris as well.

8:33 p.m. ET

Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost, the first Gen Z to serve in Congress, started off his remarks by highlighting 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."

He added, "And unlike Trump, our patriotism is more than some slogan on a hat."

8:00 p.m. ET

Beyoncé is reportedly in Chicago and is planning to perform on the final night of the DNC, according to an exclusive TMZ report. 

7:56 p.m. ET

After giving an impassioned speech, civil rights and social justice activist Rev. Al Sharpton, brought out members of the Central Park Five.

The Central Park Five were five men who were falsely accused of beating and raping a woman in a New York park when they were youths in the late ‘80s. Antron McCray is the only member of the group not on stage.

At the time they were accused, Donald Trump took out ads in four New York newspapers calling for the state to reinstate the death penalty.

The boys were charged and convicted — and later exonerated after serving time in prison. But the ads paid for by Trump drew a lot of attention and helped build his celebrity.

"Our youth was stolen from us," said Korey Wise, who blamed Trump for some of the harsh treatment they received from the public. "He spent $85,000 on an ad ... calling for my execution."

It was highly speculated that there would be a surprise guest at the final night of the DNC.

Some guessed it would be Beyoncé, Taylor Swift or Sen. Mitt Romney. 

However, Romney did squash any rumors that he would be a guest on X Thursday evening, writing: "Contrary to fake news posts, I am not the surprise guest at the DNC tonight. My guess is that it will be Beyoncé or Taylor Swift. So disappointing, I know!"

7:33 p.m. ET

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren held back tears as she was greeted with a standing ovation and cheers when she walked onto the DNC stage. 

"Kamala Harris can’t be bought and she can’t be bossed around," Warren said about her former Democratic rival. The two women served in the Senate together.

Warren quickly shifted her speech to Harris’ opponent, Donald Trump, saying that the Republican nominee is out of touch with the American people.

"When did he ever fill up a gas tank or worry about a grocery bill? The only bills he worries about are from his criminal defense lawyers," she said, resulting in laughs among the crowd.

7:17 p.m. ET

Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin rallied convention delegates with calls to protect entitlements for older Americans.

Baldwin, who is up for reelection this cycle, spoke as members of her home state delegation chanted "Tammy! Tammy!"

She told of her mother being a teenager who struggled with addiction when she was born, and of having never met her father. Baldwin was raised by her grandparents, she said, and, as they aged, she saw the importance of Social Security and Medicare.

Baldwin said Trump has suggested both programs could be cut but "we won’t let that happen."

"We Democrats, we honor our elders and ask the wealthy to pay their fair share," she said.

7:08 p.m. ET

The president of the National Education Association, Becky Pringle, and president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, threw their support behind Harris on Thursday evening. 

"We are coming together to say not on our watch," Pringle said.

The teachers union was followed by Sen. Alex Padilla who was sworn in to fill Harris' Senate seat in 2021. 

"My question to you is this: This November, who is ready to defend the dream?" Padilla asked convention goers. "Tim Walz is ready to defend the dream. Kamala Harris is ready to defend the dream."

6:50 p.m. ET

Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar gaveled in the final night of the DNC on Thursday. 

If you think you’re seeing a lot of women wearing white tonight, you would be correct. 

There appeared to be a coordinated effort among female delegates and Democratic supporters as they arrived at the United Center on Thursday afternoon, with security lines and convention floor seats filling up with women clad in white suits, dresses and other attire.

So when Harris takes the stage to accept the Democratic presidential nomination — becoming the first Black woman, and only the second woman overall, to do so — she will be looking out across a sea filled with the color of women’s suffrage, the movement that culminated with American women securing the right to vote in 1920.

The homage is a couture callback to other momentous political events in which women wearing white have played a role, particularly for other glass ceiling moments.

How Harris and Trump vary on top issues 

Abortion

The vice president has called on Congress to pass legislation guaranteeing in federal law abortion access, a right that stood for nearly 50 years before being overturned by the Supreme Court. Like Biden, Harris has criticized bans on abortion in Republican-controlled states and promised as president to block any potential nationwide ban should one clear a future GOP-run Congress. 

The former president often brags about appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion. After dodging questions about when in pregnancy he believes the procedure should be restricted, Trump announced last spring that decisions on access and cutoffs should be left to the states. He said he would not sign a national abortion ban into law. But he’s declined to say whether he would try to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone. He told Time magazine that it should also be left up to states to determine whether to prosecute women for abortions or to monitor their pregnancies.

RELATED: DNC roll call playlist: See which song your state picked

Immigration

Attempting to defuse a GOP line of political attack, the vice president has talked up her experience as California attorney general, saying she walked drug smuggler tunnels and successfully prosecuted gangs that moved narcotics and people across the border. he vice president has endorsed comprehensive immigration reform, seeking pathways to citizenship for immigrants in the U.S. without legal status, with a faster track for young immigrants living in the country illegally who arrived as children.

The former president promises to mount the largest domestic deportation in U.S. history — an operation that could involve detention camps and the National Guard. He’d bring back policies he put in place during his first term, like the Remain in Mexico program and Title 42, which placed curbs on migrants on public health grounds. And he’d revive and expand the travel ban that originally targeted citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Israel/Gaza

Harris says Israel has a right to defend itself, and she’s repeatedly decried Hamas as a terrorist organization. But the vice president might also have helped defuse some backlash from progressives by being more vocal about the need to better protect civilians during fighting in Gaza.

RELATED: Second Gentleman Emhoff paints endearing picture of Harris at DNC

The former president has expressed support for Israel’s efforts to "destroy" Hamas, but he’s also been critical of some of Israel’s tactics. He says the country must finish the job quickly and get back to peace. He has called for more aggressive responses to pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses and applauded police efforts to clear encampments. Trump also proposes to revoke the student visas of those who espouse antisemitic or anti-American views.

Harris' road to presidential nomination

Harris, a daughter of immigrants who rose through the California political and law enforcement ranks to become the first female vice president in U.S. history, formally secured the Democratic presidential nomination earlies this month — becoming the first woman of color to lead a major party ticket.

More than four years after her first attempt at the presidency collapsed, Harris’ coronation as her party’s standard-bearer caps a tumultuous and frenetic period for Democrats prompted by President Joe Biden’s disastrous June debate performance that shattered his own supporters’ confidence in his reelection prospects and spurred extraordinary intraparty warfare about whether he should stay in the race.

Just as soon as Biden abruptly ended his candidacy, Harris and her team worked rapidly to secure backing from the 1,976 party delegates needed to clinch the nomination in a formal roll call vote. 

RELATED: Obamas, Democratic leaders rally for Harris, Walz during 2nd night of DNC

Polling continues to show Harris, Trump in tight race 

Polls have varied over whether Harris or former president Donald Trump has a lead heading into the November election. 

FOX News released a poll last week that showed Harris trailing Trump by one percentage point, 49-50%, when asked who will win the White House. 

But it could all come down to swing states. In another recent poll by the New York Times and Siena College, Harris leads Trump by four percentage points in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, 50% to 46% among likely voters in each state. However, the results were within the margin of error.   

Other highlights from the DNC 

• The biggest validators of the day two were former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. The latter linked Harris with her husband by telling the rapt crowd, "America, hope is making a comeback."
• Harris' husband and second gentleman Doug Emhoff's convention speech Tuesday night focused on their love story and offered a personal glimpse meant to pull in voters, too. He dished on the deets of their first phone call, after he left her a rambling voicemail that she still makes him listen to every year on their anniversary.
• Hillary Clinton spoke hopefully of finally breaking the "glass ceiling" to elect a female president. Joe Biden laced into Trump and directly acknowledged the concerns of protesters against the war in Gaza who demonstrated a few blocks from the convention hall.
• President Joe Biden wrapped up the convention’s opening night by beginning his long political farewell with an address that both framed his own legacy and signaled he was ready to start ceding control of the party to Harris.