Obama Says ‘america Is Ready For A New Chapter’ With Harris

CHICAGO, Aug 21 (Bernama-dpa) -- Former US president Barack Obama gave Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris a rousing endorsement as he delivered the closing speech of the second day of the party's national convention on Tuesday evening.

"America is ready for a new chapter. America is ready for a better story. We are ready for a president Kamala Harris," Obama told a cheering crowd in his adopted home town of Chicago, reported German news agency (dpa).

"Kamala Harris is ready for the job. This is a person who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a champion," the former president said.

Obama hit out at his Republican successor Donald Trump, who is due to square it off with Harris in the race for the White House.

"Here is a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago. It's been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that's actually been getting worse now that he's afraid of losing to Kamala," Obama said.

"We do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos. We've seen that movie and we all know that the sequel is usually worse." 

Earlier on Tuesday, US Democrats officially confirmed Harris as their presidential candidate for the Nov 5 election in a purely ceremonial vote. 

Harris is set to give the keynote speech at the convention on Thursday night, marking the grand finale of the four-day event intended to celebrate Harris and her pick for vice president, Tim Walz, and to boost their momentum for the remainder of the campaign. 

-- BERNAMA-dpa