US Vice President Kamala Harris took a combative stance against Donald Trump during the first rally of her White House campaign, framing the November election as a choice between a former prosecutor and a convicted felon.
Addressing a crowd of approximately 3,000 in Wisconsin, Harris drew comparisons between Trump and fraudsters she had previously prosecuted.
Trump countered by criticizing her border policies and posted on social media, labeling her “Lyin’ Kamala Harris” and claiming she “destroys everything she touches.”
This rally followed Harris securing majority support from Democratic delegates, positioning her to become the party’s nominee. The day after President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race and his endorsement of Harris, her campaign raised over $100 million within 36 hours. A recent Reuters and Ipsos poll also shows Harris leading Trump by two percentage points, 44% to 42%.
Speaking at a high school in a Milwaukee suburb on Tuesday, Harris emphasized her experience as California’s attorney general, stating, “I took on perpetrators of all kinds—predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, and cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.” She pledged to match her record against Trump’s in the campaign.
The crowd responded enthusiastically, chanting “Kamala! Kamala!” This level of energy was noted to be higher than at recent Biden events. When Trump’s name was mentioned, attendees chanted “lock him up,” reminiscent of the chants heard at Trump’s rallies in 2016 against Hillary Clinton.
In response, Trump shared on Truth Social a poll indicating that Harris is the most unpopular vice president in US history.
Trump also highlighted a post noting that Ms. Harris was rated by the non-partisan congressional tracker GovTrack as one of the most left-leaning among Democratic senators during her tenure.
In her speech, Ms. Harris emphasized several liberal priorities, including gun control, abortion access, child poverty, union rights, and affordable healthcare. She posed a rhetorical question to the audience: “Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear, and hate?”
The durability of Ms. Harris’s momentum is uncertain. Pollster Tony Fabrizio suggested in a memo released Tuesday that her initial popularity might wane, with a shift towards focusing on her role as Biden’s vice president.
The Trump campaign is criticizing Harris for her “failure” to address the record number of illegal immigrants at the US-Mexico border and plans to attack the Biden-Harris administration’s record on crime and inflation.
A Tuesday afternoon email from Trump’s team accused Harris of bailing out “accused murderers, rapists, and other violent offenders,” insulting Israel, and misleading the public about Biden’s “cognitive decline.”
During a call with reporters, Trump labeled Harris as a “radical left person” and suggested that she could be easier to defeat than Biden. “I think she should be easier than Biden, because he was slightly more mainstream, but not much,” Trump said.
He also expressed willingness to debate Harris in September, although he had initially agreed to a debate with Biden. “I haven’t agreed to anything,” he stated. “I agreed to a debate with Joe Biden. But I want to debate her. She’ll be no different.”
Most Democratic lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have already endorsed Harris’s candidacy. High-profile entertainers such as George Clooney, Barbra Streisand, and Jamie Lee Curtis have also thrown their support behind her, potentially leading to substantial donations for her campaign. Her team is still evaluating potential running mates.
On Wednesday, President Biden will deliver an Oval Office speech explaining his decision to withdraw. He arrived back at the White House on Tuesday after several days away from the public eye as he recovered from Covid.
In Washington, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives introduced articles of impeachment against Ms Harris.
The resolution, written by Tennessee’s Andy Ogles, accuses her of high crimes and misdemeanours over her handling of immigration at the border.
It is considered unlikely to advance.
