Kamala Harris on Wednesday became the first black woman to accept nomination for the office of  vice president of the United States from a major political party.

Speaking from an empty convention hall, California Senator Kamala Harris accepted her party’s historic nomination Wednesday to be its vice-presidential candidate on the third night of the Democratic Virtual Convention.

Harris, the first Black woman and first Asian American to join a major party’s presidential ticket, pointed out that this presidential election was “a chance to change the course of history.”

“Donald Trump’s failure of leadership has cost lives and livelihoods,” Harris said.

Former US President Barack Obama told the convention Trump’s failures as his successor had led to 170,000 people dead from the coronavirus, millions of lost jobs and America’s reputation being badly diminished in the world.

“Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe,” Obama said. And he added:

“I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care.

“He has shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.

“Millions of jobs gone. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before.

Biden leads Trump in opinion polls ahead of the November 3 election, strengthened by a big lead among women voters.