Vice President Kamala Harris was greeted with cheers by crowds of voters in battleground states on Tuesday as she launched her public rebuttal to former Republican President Donald Trump, declaring that the November election will be “a choice between freedom and chaos.”
“In this race, I proudly bet my record on his,” Harris said. “We believe in a future where everyone has the opportunity to not just survive, but thrive.”
Harris arrived in the Milwaukee area after securing the Democratic delegate nomination endorsement after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid on Sunday, marking her first campaign rally since winning Biden’s endorsement and entering the race just two days ago.
The event reflected an energy that has been lacking in Democrats in recent weeks, with Ms. Harris seeking to project a steady confidence in the November election. She has raised $100 million in donations since Sunday afternoon and garnered endorsements from even more Democratic figures and political groups on Tuesday, including Sens. Charles Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.
By stopping in Wisconsin, Harris is making her mark in one of the “blue wall” states, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, that Democrats see as crucial to securing victory in the presidential election.
The visit comes a week after the Republican National Convention wrapped up in the city, and comes as Harris seeks to sharpen her message to Republican candidates with just over 100 days until Election Day.
Harris’ visit to the state contrasted with Biden’s visit on July 6, when he sought to reassure Democrats wary of his own performance in a debate with Trump on June 27. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is up for reelection this year, did not attend Biden’s event but spoke before Harris on Tuesday.
Harris has touted her record as a former district attorney and California attorney general, and is seeking to contrast her with Trump, the first former president to be convicted of a felony.
“She is professionally trained to prosecute criminals and is ready for this moment, and unfortunately, that’s exactly who the Republicans have put up,” said Sen. LaFonza Butler, D-Calif.
Harris took to the stage on Tuesday to the tune of Beyonce’s “Freedom,” the theme song from her album “Lemonade,” and began contrasting herself with Trump.
“I’ve fought all kinds of criminals. Predators who abuse women. Scammers who deceive consumers. Con men who break the rules for their own personal gain. So I know a type of person like Donald Trump,” she said.
Harris positioned her campaign as a “people first” effort, contrasting her with Trump, who represents special interests and corporations.
She also called her rivals’ policies outdated and backward-looking. “We’re not going to go backward,” she said. “Let me tell you why we’re not going backward. Our fight is for the future,” echoing Barack Obama’s comments, which he frequently used to counter Republican ideas during his 2012 reelection campaign.
Ms. Harris’s rapid growth in support in recent days has forced her to select a running mate, a process being led by Eric Holder, who served as attorney general under Barack Obama. But her main impact so far has been in energizing the Democratic Party.
Before Tuesday’s speech, South Milwaukee resident Diane Walter, 68, said she was excited that Harris was the nominee.
“I’ve been a Democrat my whole life,” Walter said. “She’s reinvigorating the party.”
Tevin Humphrey, 21, attended the event with his mother, Misha Johnson, 41, and described the vice president as a “great man to look up to.”
“She better represents the diversity we’re looking for,” he said.
Trump and his campaign quickly shifted their focus to Harris, arguing they had been preparing for the change and had not changed their plans.
The former president called the vice president “lying Kamala Harris,” criticized her for not being tough enough on crime as a prosecutor and tried to pin her down on his administration’s border policy as he seeks to make immigration a campaign focus.
But Trump seems more frustrated at being faced with a younger vice president than he is with an older president. Since Biden withdrew, Trump has twice said that ABC News should not host the second scheduled presidential debate, suggesting that it be switched to Fox News, which he sees as more friendly to him.
Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, speaking in Washington, said he was unimpressed with Trump’s attacks, telling reporters on Tuesday, “Is that all he can do?”
Harris was joined by Baldwin and other key Wisconsin elected officials, including Governor Tony Evers, Attorney General Josh Kaul, Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski and Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler.
Wisconsin Republican leaders, meanwhile, have slammed Harris as an “extreme liberal” who is out of step with most voters in the battleground state.
“The support for Kamala Harris is just as bad as Joe Biden’s,” Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Simming said at a press conference ahead of an event for Harris at a suburban Milwaukee high school. “So they’re replacing one bad candidate with another bad candidate so that people in this state and this country don’t realize where she actually stands on the issues.”
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