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CHICAGO — When Vice President Kamala Harris takes the stage Thursday night to formally accept the nomination, she is expected to cast herself as a proud American patriot – and blast former President Donald Trump for talking “down our country.”
The vice president’s speech – the most important address of her career – and she has three chief objectives going into it: to share her personal story, draw a sharp contrast with Trump, and promote a “deep” sense of patriotism, a source close to the campaign told The Post.
Allies close to Harris have hyped up her speech. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) predicted it will likely become one of the “greatest speeches we’re going to hear in this election season.”
“What I’m excited about today is to see my colleague, my friend, my sister in the Senate, share her heart with America, to appeal to the better angels of our nation, to have a tradition in our presidency that Donald Trump betrayed,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) told reporters.
Patriotism
A key theme in her speech will be a unifying pitch about how Harris will strive to be a president for all Americans and battle for the country’s core principles, the source explained.
Part of that will entail her casting an optimistic tone about the American people and juxtaposing that with Trump’s rhetoric. Patriot chants – including “USA, USA” – have been heard throughout the convention, and several speakers have invoked the national anthem, Constitution, and more.
Throughout the convention, speakers have similarly sought to cast Trump as a threat to democracy and accused him of seeking to trample upon critical freedoms.
Typically, Republicans have tried to claim the mantle of freedom champions and proud patriots, so her messaging will partly amount to Harris trying to reclaim that banner.
Contrasting Trump
Predictably, Harris is expected to contrast Trump and focus on Project 2025 — a blueprint for a future administration developed by the conservative Heritage Foundation in partnership with other right-leaning organizations.
Harris will lay out a “New Way Forward,” which the source billed as “an optimistic agenda” focused on the economy and the protection of freedom.
Her campaign and other speakers have long used Project 2025 as a boogeyman, despite Trump’s team distancing the former president from the plan. On Wednesday, for example, Saturday Night Live comedian Kenan Thompson went through a skit on stage eviscerating the plan, that would overhaul the federal government.
The vice president will accuse Trump and his allies of seeking to push the country backward. Since Harris’ ascension to the denomination, she has sought to gain ground against Trump with voters on economic issues.
Last week, for example, she laid out a plan to tackle cost of living issues. But so far, her campaign has largely been light on specifics.
Personal journey
Coloring her message will be Harris’ personal journey of growing up in a working-class neighborhood while being raised by Jamaican and Indian immigrants, before rising the ranks of politics.
Harris will try to drive home a message that she understands the plights of middle-class Americans and shares their values.
Part of this will entail her work as San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general. During her unsuccessful 2020 bide, Harris had distanced herself from her time as a prosecutor.
But on Thursday, she will boast about how she became a prosecutor to defend victims of violent crimes such as sexual abuse as well as her work to help victims of the foreclosure crisis.
Harris’ team believes it has momentum against its back and she is hoping that her speech tonight will help sustain that energy beyond the convention just 74 days out from election night.
“She’s going to talk about her positive vision for the future of America, an America where the middle class won’t just get by, but will get ahead, a country where all of our freedoms are protected,” Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler also previewed to reporters Thursday.
