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Kamala Harris: The RNC "is designed for one purpose — to soothe Donald Trump's ego"

27 August 2020
Dan Ackermann

Sen. Kamala Harris excoriated President Trump in a speech pre-butting the final night of the GOP convention, accusing him and his Republican allies of ignoring "the reality" of an America facing crises of racial injustice, public health and economic despair.

Why it matters: Harris said throughout her presidential run — and again during her Democratic National Convention speech — that her goal is to "prosecute" the case against the Trump presidency. She made that case on Thursday by relentlessly attacking Trump and the Republicans for spending little time during their convention on the coronavirus pandemic.

What she's saying: "Unlike the Democratic convention, which was very clear-eyed about the challenges we are facing and how we will tackle them, the Republican convention is designed for one purpose: To soothe Donald Trump's ego," Harris said.

  • "We know the truth: Donald Trump has failed at the most basic and important job of a president of the United States. He failed to protect the American people. Plain and simple."
  • "Here's what you have to understand about the nature of a pandemic, it's relentless. You can't stop it with a tweet. You can't create a distraction and hope it will go away. It doesn't go away."
  • "By its nature, a pandemic is unforgiving. If you get it wrong at the beginning, the consequences are catastrophic. It's very hard to catch up. You don't get a second chance at getting it right. Well, President Trump, he got it wrong from the beginning and then he got it wrong again and again."

The bottom line: "Donald Trump stood idly by and, folks, it was a deadly decision," Harris said. "Instead of rising to meet the most difficult moment of his presidency, Donald Trump froze. He was scared and he was petty and vindictive."

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.