Update: Below are the highlights from the Democratic National Convention day four, concluding with the major moments from Hillary Clinton’s 56-minute acceptance speech of the Democratic presidential nomination.
11:27 p.m. ET: Hillary Clinton ended her speech by asking voters to unite with her as the president of the United States.
“Though ‘We may not live to see the glory,’ as the song from the musical Hamilton goes, ‘Let us gladly join the fight.’ Let our legacy be about ‘planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.’ That’s why we are here, not just in this hall but on this Earth,” Clinton concluded. “The founders showed us that. And so have many others since. They were drawn together by love of country, and the selfless passion to build something better for all who follow. That is the story of America.
“And we begin a new chapter tonight. Yes, the world is watching what we do. Yes, America’s destiny is ours to choose. So let’s be stronger together. Let’s look to the future with courage and confidence. Let’s build a better tomorrow for our beloved children and our beloved country. When we do, America will be greater than ever.”
Jessica Sanchez’s “Stronger Together” then played while Hillary and Bill Clinton, along with vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine, were showered with red, white and blue balloons and confetti.
11:26 p.m. ET: “More than a few times, I’ve had to pick myself up and get back in the game. Like so much else, I got this from my mother. She never let me back down from any challenge. When I tried to hide from a neighborhood bully, she literally blocked the door. ‘Go back out there,’ she said. And she was right. You have to stand up to bullies. You have to keep working to make things better, even when the odds are long.”
11:20 p.m. ET: “If we’re serious about keeping our country safe, we also can’t afford to have a president who’s in the pocket of the gun lobby,” Clinton added. “I’m not here to repeal the Second Amendment. I’m not here to take away your guns. I just don’t want you to be shot by someone who shouldn’t have a gun in the first place.”
11:15 p.m. ET: “Donald Trump says, ‘I know more about ISIS than the generals do.’ No, Donald, you don’t,” Clinton said while mocking her opponent. “He thinks he knows more than our military because he claimed our armed forces are a disaster. … Imagine, if you dare, imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis — a man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.”
“Think Donald Trump has the temperament to be commander-in-chief? Donald Trump can’t even handle the rough-and-tumble of a presidential campaign,” Clinton continued. “He loses his cool at the slightest provocation.”
11:08 p.m. ET: Clinton addressed how she would help send Americans to college without crippling student loans. “Bernie Sanders and I will work together to make college tuition free for the middle class and debt-free for all! We will also liberate millions of people who already have student debt,” she said.
11:06 p.m. ET: Her jabs at Trump continued: He spoke for 70-odd minutes, and I do mean odd. And he offered zero solutions. But we already know he doesn’t believe these things. No wonder he doesn’t like talking about his plans. You might have noticed, I love talking about mine.”
11 p.m. ET: “My primary mission as president will be to create more opportunity and more good jobs with rising wages right here in the United States,” Clinton said. “From my first day in office to my last, especially in places that for too long have been left out and left behind. From our inner cities to our small towns, from Indian country to coal country.
“And here’s what I believe: I believe America thrives when the middle class thrives. I believe that our economy isn’t working the way it should because our democracy isn’t working the way it should.”
10:56 p.m. ET: Clinton addressed her historic accomplishment, saying, “Tonight, we’ve reached a milestone in our nation’s march toward a more perfect union: the first time that a major party has nominated a woman for president. Standing here as my mother’s daughter, and my daughter’s mother, I’m so happy this day has come. Happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between. I’m happy for boys and men because when any barrier falls in America, for anyone, it clears the way for everyone.
“After all, when there are no ceilings, the sky’s the limit. So let’s keep going, until every one of the 161 million women and girls across America has the opportunity she deserves.”
10:47 p.m. ET: “My friends, it is with humility, determination, and boundless confidence in America’s promise that I accept your nomination for president of the United States,” Clinton proudly stated Thursday night. “Now sometimes, sometimes the people at this podium are new to the national stage, as you know I’m not one of those people.”
Clinton then recalled her career to those in attendance at the Wells Fargo Center, before admitted that some “don’t know what to make of me.”
“I’ve been your first lady, I’ve served eight years as a senator for the great state of New York and then I represented all of you as secretary of state, but my job titles only tell you what I’ve done, they don’t tell you why. The truth is through all these years … the service part has always come easier to me than the public part … I get it that some people just don’t know what to make of me,” she continued. “So let me tell you. The family I’m from, no one has the names on big buildings. My family were builders of a different kind. Builders in the way most American families are. They used whatever tools they had, whatever God gave them and, whatever life in America provided … My grandfather worked in the same Scranton lace mill for 50 years because he believed that if he gave everything he had, his children would have a better life than he did. And he was right.”
10:42 p.m. ET: Hillary Clinton continued to bash her opponent, referring to his speech during the Republican National Convention. “Freedom and equality justice and opportunity — we should be so proud those words are associated with us …When people here those words they hear America, so don’t let anyone tell you our country is weak, we’re not. … And most of all, don’t believe anyone who says I alone can fix it … Yes,” Clinton continued, “Those were actually Donald Trump‘s words in Cleveland — really? ‘I alone can fix it,'” she added, mockingly. “Isn’t he forgetting troops … police officers … fire fighters?”
10:38 p.m. ET: Hillary Clinton wasted no time attacking Republican rival Donald Trump. “He wants to divide us from the rest of the world and from each other. He is betting that the perils of today’s world will blind us to its unlimited promise,” she said. “He is taken the Republican party a long way from mourning in America to midnight in America. He wants us to fear the future and fear each other.”
10:35 p.m. ET: Clinton thanked former rival Bernie Sanders: “Bernie, your campaign inspired millions of Americans, particularly the young people who do their hearts and souls into our primary. You put economic and social justice issues brought and center where they belong.
“And to all of your supporters here and around the country, I want you to know that I’ve heard you, your cause is our cause. Our country needs your ideas, energy and passion. That is the only way we can turn our Progressive platform into real change for America. [Cheers] We wrote to together, now let’s go out and make it happen together.”
10:34 p.m. ET: “For those of you out there who are just getting to know Tim Kaine, you will soon understand why the people of Virginia keep promoting him from city council to mayor, to governor and now senator and he will make our whole country proud as our next vice president,” Clinton said of her VP pick.
10:32 p.m. ET: “On Tuesday night I was so happy to see that my explainer in chief is still on the job,” Clinton joked about husband Bill Clinton‘s speech earlier in the week at the DNC.
10:27 p.m. ET: Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton took the stage to the tune “Fight Song” as the audience cheered wildly. Some even wiped away tears.
10:02 p.m. ET: Chelsea Clinton, Hillary and Bill Clinton‘s daughter, appeared on the stage to loud cheers. “It is such an honor for me to be here tonight,” she said. “I’m here as a proud American, a proud Democrat, a proud mother. And tonight, in particular, a very proud daughter.”
“She’s a listener, a doer. She is a woman driven by compassion, by faith, but a fierce sense of justice and a heart full of love. This November, I’m voting for a woman as a role model and a mother. A woman who has spent her entire life fighting for families and children. … I’m voting for a fighter who never ever gives up and who believes we can always do better when we come together and work together.”
“I know with all my heart that my mother will make us proud as our next president,” Chelsea concluded.
