US Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday called on a rally of more than 6,000 black women to help revive the Democratic presidential campaign ahead of her Republican rival Donald Trump’s return to the campaign trail.
Harris has emerged as the Democratic presidential nominee for the Nov. 5 election after President Joe Biden, 81, ended his re-election bid on Sunday facing intense opposition from fellow Democrats who questioned her ability to win or serve for four years.
The 59-year-old vice president, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president — who would also be a historic first as president if she triumphs over former President Trump, 78 — has shaken up a stagnant race and sparked new energy among Democrats.
The surge is set to continue on Wednesday, when Trump holds his first rally since Biden ended his campaign — in the battleground state of North Carolina.
The Trump campaign has insisted it is open to Harris’ candidacy, arguing she serves as Biden’s surrogate on economic and immigration policies, which have contributed to his waning popularity among voters.
Harris spoke in Indianapolis at an event hosted by the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, which was founded at Howard University, the historically black college she attended. She hopes to use the sorority’s multi-generational network of black women — who played a key role in Biden’s 2020 victory — to ensure strong voter turnout for Democrats again in November.
“I thank you. And now, in this moment, our country needs your leadership once again,” Harris said.
Opinion polls this week have shown a close race between Harris and Trump.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed Tuesday gave Harris a slight 2 percentage point lead over Trump, 44% vs. 42%. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS gave Trump a 49% vs. 46% lead over Harris. Both results were within the poll’s margin of error.
Biden will speak
Biden, who is back in Washington after quarantining at his home in Delaware because of Covid, will address the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday night to explain his decision following a disastrous June debate with Trump that raised questions about his ability to win the election, or serve for another four years if he succeeded.
On Tuesday, Trump took the unusual step of speaking to reporters on a conference call to outline his campaign’s aggressive policy on the border and say Harris was partly responsible for the record flow of migrants.
Biden tasked Harris with working with Central American countries to help stem the wave of migration, but did not make her responsible for border security.
“She’s a radical left-wing person and this country doesn’t want a radical left-wing person destroying it,” Trump said on the call. “She wants open borders. She wants things that nobody wants.”
Harris has not called for removing border controls.
Trump, coming off a triumphant week in which his party united around his presidential bid after a failed assassination attempt two weeks earlier, had to watch as Biden’s abrupt exit from the race dramatically changed the narrative and shifted attention to Harris at his expense.
Harris campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a memo made public Wednesday that Democrats would aim to compete in the swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada, opening up a map that had appeared more focused on the Midwest in the final weeks of Biden’s campaign.
“The race has now become more dynamic — the vice presidential candidates are well-known, but less well-known than both Trump and President Biden, especially among Democratic-leaning constituencies,” O’Malley Dillon wrote.
Democrats will formally nominate their new ticket at next month’s convention in Chicago after virtual voting on August 7. Roy Cooper, the Democratic governor of North Carolina, is believed to be on the short list to serve as Harris’ running mate.
Harris and her campaign have worked quickly to solidify support among Democrats in Congress and representatives across the country. Candidates who could have been potential rivals for the nomination have also endorsed her.
The Harris campaign said Wednesday that it had raised $126 million since Sunday, with 64% of donors making their first contributions to the 2024 campaign.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
