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Kamala Harris attacks Donald Trump for “fear and hate” at first campaign rally

Theo

Milwaukee, USA:

US Vice President Kamala Harris attacked Donald Trump on Tuesday at her first campaign rally since replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee, narrowly ahead of her Republican rival, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

In her 17-minute speech, Harris aggressively targeted Trump’s vulnerabilities, comparing her past as a former prosecutor to his past as a convicted felon.

Harris ran through a list of liberal priorities, saying that if elected, she would work to expand access to abortion, make it easier for workers to join unions and combat gun violence, drawing a sharp contrast with Trump, the Republican presidential nominee for the Nov. 5 election.

“Donald Trump wants to set our country back,” she told a cheering crowd of several thousand people at West Allis Central High School in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a swing state that played a crucial role in deciding the outcome of the election.

“Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and the rule of law or in a country of chaos, fear and hatred?”

The raucous rally was a striking contrast to Biden’s smaller, more subdued events and underscored Democrats’ hopes that Harris, 59, can revive their flagging campaign under Biden, 81. The crowd danced and waved Harris signs while chants of “Ka-ma-la!” erupted as she took the stage.

She emphasized her commitment to reproductive rights, an issue that has preoccupied Republicans since the U.S. Supreme Court – driven by three Trump-appointed justices – struck down federal abortion rights in 2022.

In the national Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Monday and Tuesday, Harris led Trump 44% to 42% among registered voters after Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday and endorsed Harris as his successor.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll last week showed Biden trailing Trump by two percentage points before he ended his campaign.

Both were within the poll’s margin of error of three percentage points. But the results may indicate limited movement toward Democrats – and may suggest that Harris’ rise to the top of the ticket dampened the momentum Trump had hoped to gain from last week’s Republican National Convention, also held in Milwaukee.

Trump and his allies have tried to tie Harris to some of Biden’s more unpopular policies, including his administration’s handling of the influx of migrants at the southern border with Mexico.

In a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, Trump expressed confidence in his ability to defeat Harris, pointing out that she did not even make it to the first round of nationwide nominations during her last presidential run in 2020.

Trump offered Harris a debate on several occasions. After their June 27 meeting, Trump and Biden scheduled another debate on September 10. Biden’s poor performance that night led Democrats to call for him to resign.

“I want to debate her and she will be no different because they have the same policies,” Trump said.

A RAPID RISE

Harris was able to quickly consolidate her party’s support after Biden, 81, abandoned his re-election campaign under pressure from party members who worried about whether he could beat Trump, 78, or serve another four-year term.

She secured her nomination on Monday evening with the approval of a majority of the delegates who will choose their candidate at the party convention next month, the campaign team said.

Her campaign said it had raised $100 million since Sunday.

Most Democratic lawmakers have thrown their support behind her candidacy, including Senate and House party leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, who supported Harris at a joint press conference on Tuesday.

Harris’ rise dramatically changes an election in which many voters were dissatisfied with their options. As the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, she would make history as the first woman elected U.S. president.

Wisconsin, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, is one of a trio of Rust Belt states that are crucial to the Democrats’ chances of defeating Trump.

Alyssa Wahlberg, 19, chairwoman of the Whitewater College Democrats, said Harris had re-mobilized young voters, especially women, who wanted Harris to break the U.S.’s ultimate glass ceiling.

“I’ve talked to my grandmother. We’re both excited that she might live to see the first female president,” said Wahlberg, who attended Tuesday’s rally. “It’s taken too long.”

Amid concerns about his health and persistently high prices straining American household finances, Biden has lost ground to Trump in the polls, particularly in the battleground states likely to decide the election, including the Sun Belt states of Arizona and Nevada.

BIDEN SPEAKED TO THE NATION

Biden said on X that he would give a speech in the Oval Office on Wednesday evening explaining his decision to end his campaign. He returned to Washington on Tuesday after spending several days in quarantine at home because of COVID-19. The president tested negative and no longer has any symptoms, the White House doctor said in a letter on Tuesday.

Biden’s dramatic departure followed Trump’s narrow survival of an assassination attempt on July 13, which raised questions about security failings at the U.S. Secret Service. The agency’s head, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned on Tuesday.

The Washington Post reported that Secret Service officials have asked the Trump campaign to stop holding outdoor rallies, such as the one in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump was injured in his right ear. The Post cited anonymous people familiar with the matter. The Secret Service and the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said in an interview on NBC’s “Today” show that the party must act quickly to get its candidates on the ballot in all 50 states and that Harris’s choice for vice president must be decided by August 7.

Potential running mate candidates include Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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