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, while a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll showed her taking a slight lead over her Republican rival.
In a 17-minute speech, Harris aggressively attacked Trump’s weaknesses and compared her background as a former prosecutor to Trump’s record as a convicted criminal.
Harris laid out a list of liberal priorities, saying if elected she would work to expand access to abortion, make it easier for workers to join unions and combat gun violence – a sharp contrast to Trump, the Republican nominee in the Nov. 5 presidential election.
“Donald Trump wants to take our country backwards,” he said, addressing a cheering crowd of thousands at West Allis Central High School in a Milwaukee suburb, Wisconsin. Wisconsin is a battleground state that plays a key role in deciding the election outcome.
“Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and the rule of law, or a country of anarchy, fear and hate?”
The raucous rally, in marked contrast to smaller, more sedate events held by Biden, underscored Democrats’ hope that Harris, 59, can revive a faltering campaign under Biden, 81. The audience danced and waved Harris banners, while when she took the stage there were chants of “Ka-ma-la!”
He emphasized his commitment to reproductive rights, an issue that has plagued Republicans since the US Supreme Court — run by three Trump-appointed justices — ended the nationwide right to abortion in 2022.
Harris leads Trump 44% to 42% among registered voters in a national Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted on Monday and Tuesday, after Biden announced Harris as his successor after dropping out of the contest on Sunday.
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 three-point margin of error. But the results could signal a limited shift in Democrats’ direction — and suggest that Harris’s elevation to the top of the ticket has sapped whatever momentum Trump hoped to gain from last week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Trump and his allies have tried to link Harris to some of Biden’s unpopular policies, including his administration’s handling of a surge 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, noting that his previous presidential campaign in 2020 did not even last until the first statewide nominating contest.
Trump offered to debate Harris several times. After the meeting on June 27, Trump and Biden were scheduled to have another debate on September 10. Biden’s poor performance that night led the Democratic Party to demand that he step down.
“I would love to debate him, and there would be no difference, because their policies are the same,” Trump said.
explosive growth
Harris has quickly solidified her party’s support after Biden, 81, abandoned his re-election campaign under pressure from party members who were concerned about whether Biden would be able to defeat Trump, 78, or serve another four-year term.
According to the campaign, he completed the nomination process on Monday night by receiving pledges from a majority of delegates, who will determine the nominee at next month’s party convention.
His campaign said it had raised $100 million since Sunday.
Most Democratic lawmakers have come out in support of her candidacy, including party leaders in the Senate and House, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, who endorsed Harris in a joint press conference on Tuesday.
Harris’s rise dramatically reshapes an election in which many voters were unhappy with their choices. As the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, she will make further history as the first woman to be elected US president.
Wisconsin is one of three Rust Belt states, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, that are crucial to Democrats’ chances of defeating Trump.
Alyssa Wahlborg, 19, vice president of the Whitewater College Democrats, said Harris has re-energized young voters, especially women, who want Harris to break America’s last glass ceiling.
“I talked to my grandmother. We’re both excited that maybe she’ll live to see the first woman president,” said Wahlberg, who attended Tuesday’s rally. “It’s taken a long time.”
Plagued by concerns about his health and the impact of rising inflation on Americans’ household finances, Biden was losing ground to Trump in opinion polls, particularly in competitive states that would likely decide the election, including the Sun Belt states of Arizona and Nevada.
Biden will address the nation
Biden said on X that he would deliver a speech in the Oval Office on Wednesday night in which he would explain his decision to end his campaign. He returned to Washington on Tuesday after spending several days isolating at home because of COVID-19. The White House doctor said in a letter on Tuesday that the president had tested negative and was no longer symptomatic.
Biden’s dramatic resignation came after he narrowly survived an assassination attempt on Trump on July 13, raising questions about security failures at the US Secret Service. The agency’s director, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned on Tuesday.
The Washington Post reported that Secret Service officials have encouraged the Trump campaign not to hold outdoor rallies like the one in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump suffered a concussion in his right ear. The Post cited unnamed 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 move quickly to get the ticket on the ballot in all 50 states, and that Harris’s vice presidential running mate must be selected by Aug. 7.
Potential candidates include Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, US 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.)
