PHILADELPHIA – Hillary Clinton’s formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, becoming the first woman to head the ticket of a major US party, taking a swipe at Republican rival Donald Trump.

“We will not build a wall. Instead we will build an economy where everyone who wants a good job can get one,” said Clinton, to thunderous applause during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, The Guardian reported on Thursday, July 28.

“And we’ll build a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants who are already contributing to our economy.”

Building on a week of potent testimonials from the Democratic Party’s biggest stars, Clinton closed her nominating convention with an optimistic assessment of the country.

In a powerful speech, she casted her campaign as a fight to defend core American values against an opponent she depicted as unstable and unqualified.

Clinton also quoted Franklin Roosevelt’s “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, taking swipes at Trump’s promises to build a wall on the Mexican border and ban Muslims from entering the country.

A central conceit will be that Trump is exploiting fear and this is never a good basis for action. Hence Clinton’s insistence: “We are not afraid.”

“We will not ban a religion. We will work with all Americans and our allies to fight terrorism,” she added.

Becoming the first woman to receive the presidential nomination of a major party, Clinton said she accepted it “with humility, determination and boundless confidence in America’s promise.”

Her nearly hour-long address amounted to a sharply worded rejoinder to Donald Trump’s address to the nation one week ago.

“America is once again at a moment of reckoning,” Clinton said.

“Powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart. Bonds of trust and respect are fraying. And just as with our founders, there are no guarantees. … We have to decide whether we’re going to work together, so we can all rise together.”

She also reached out to supporters of Bernie Sanders, in a bid to end divisions in the party.

“I have heard you, your cause is our cause,” she said, “our country needs your ideas, energy and passion. That is the only way we can turn our progressive platform into real change for America.”

Muslim Support

In a bid to win Muslim votes, Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar brought his endorsement of Hillary Clinton and his strong condemnation of Donald Trump to the last night of the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

“I’m Michael Jordan,” he introduced himself at Philly’s Wells Fargo Center, The Daily Beast reported

“I say that because I know Donald Trump couldn’t tell the difference.”

He went on to discuss the 14 Muslim-American soldiers who have died in service to the United States since the 9/11 attacks.

“Donald Trump’s idea, to register Muslims…is the very tyranny that [Thomas] Jefferson abhorred,” he continued.

He also slammed the “religious freedom acts” signed into law and championed by such figures as Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Trump’s running mate.

“Discrimination is the result of fear [and] those who think Americans scare easily…underestimate our resolve,” Abdul-Jabbar said.

“Not here, not ever,” he concluded in his brief remarks.

Along with Abdul-Jabbar, Democratic Muslim lawmakers cast Trump as a bigot and a demagogue who is a threat to the nation.

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the first Muslim elected to Congress, likened Trump’s racially charged rhetoric to the discrimination Jackson faced as a civil rights activist in the 1960s.

“Jesse Jackson faced down water hoses. Jesse Jackson faced down dogs barking. Jesse Jackson faced down the real bullies, the real racists, the people who absolutely would and did kill you if they could simply because you were fighting for human rights,” Ellison said.

“And yet, even our beloved Jesse Jackson has never seen a major-party candidate openly appeal to religious hate, to ethnic bigotry, to making horrible, ugly, demeaning statements about women, to ridiculing people who are disabled, to saying a judge born in Indiana cannot preside because he’s of Mexican ancestry, saying no Muslim can come into the country, saying that Muslims should have to carry around a special ID.”