‘Say it to my face,’ Kamala Harris dares Donald Trump as things get personal
The Vice-President’s trip to Atlanta, Georgia, comes as Democrats regard the swing state as being in play after Joe Biden’s exit.
US presidential hopeful Kamala Harris launched a searing attack on Donald Trump on Tuesday, telling her biggest campaign rally yet that the momentum was shifting in the White House race and daring the Republican to debate her face to face.
The Vice-President’s trip to Atlanta, Georgia, comes as re-energised Democrats regard the swing state as being in play after it looked beyond hope under President Joe Biden before his shock withdrawal from the election.
The presumptive Democrat nominee is aiming to expand the party’s 2024 battleground map and appeal to young black voters, delivering a firm, 20-minute speech to about 10,000 supporters in a packed arena and pledging Americans “are not going back” to the “failed policies” of Mr Trump.
“Now the baton is in our hands,” Harris said to loud applause. “We have a fight in front of us ... And we are the underdogs in this race.”
Ms Harris’s nascent presidential bid took off following Mr Biden’s July 21 exit from the race, with much of the party coalescing behind her and her campaign raising $US200m ($308m).
“The momentum in this race is shifting, and there are signs Donald Trump is feeling it,” she said.
Adding some Atlanta glitz for younger voters was Megan Thee Stallion, the hip-hop star who performed before Ms Harris took the stage.
Mr Trump recently said he would forego political tradition and not debate Ms Harris; he also unleashed a barrage of insults against his rival, calling her “crazy” and a “bum”.
“Well Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage, because as the saying goes, if you’ve got something to say, say it to my face,” Ms Harris said, to roars of approval.
She also repeated her popular line about how, as a former prosecutor and California attorney-general going up against predators and fraudsters, she knows “Donald Trump’s type … in this campaign, I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week”.
With just 97 days before the election, Ms Harris is under pressure to announce her vice-presidential pick. Asked on Tuesday whether she had chosen one, Ms Harris told reporters: “Not yet.” The search must be nearing a conclusion, however, as her team announced on Tuesday that she and her new running mate would campaign next week in battlegrounds Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.
Ms Harris saw her pool of potential running-mates narrow in the past 24 hours. Roy Cooper, the North Carolina Governor, ruled himself out of contention on Monday, while Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan Governor, told MSNBC on the same day that she was not part of the vetting process.
Mark Kelly, an Arizona senator and former astronaut, and Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, are among favoured candidates for the role.
With the White House race turned on its head, 59-year-old Ms Harris on Tuesday unveiled her first television ad since replacing Mr Biden, while the Trump camp released a duelling spot attacking her on the crucial election issue of immigration.
Ms Harris swatted away the attack, saying in her speech that while the Biden administration worked with conservatives to craft border legislation, Mr Trump “tanked” it for political gain.
“Donald Trump does not care about border security,” she said.
“He only cares about himself.”
Ms Harris said if elected, she would focus on key economic goals such as expanding affordable healthcare and tackling rising consumer costs.
She also attacked Mr Trump, 78, over his “extreme abortion bans”, referring to restrictive laws enacted in several states in the two years since the US Supreme Court – with three judges nominated by Mr Trump – stripped constitutional protections for abortion.
As for Georgia’s potential competitiveness, Ms Harris insisted “the path to the White House runs right through this state”.
In a sign the southern state will be bitterly contested, Mr Trump and running mate JD Vance announced they would hold a rally on Saturday in Atlanta.
“Kamala Harris and her complicit cronies have made the people of Georgia pay a hefty price for their woke policies,” the Trump campaign said on Tuesday.
AFP
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