Kamala Harris Pledges to Use Prosecutorial Skills Against Trump
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, bolstering Democratic support for her swift presidential bid, rallied her base with an inaugural campaign address on Monday, pledging to take on Republican contender and former President Donald Trump with the fervor of the courtroom prosecutor she once was.
"I tackled perpetrators of
all kinds: predators who abused women, fraudsters who swindled consumers, and
cheats who flouted rules for personal gain," Harris asserted to campaign
staff, a mere 28 hours after President Joe Biden, 81, withdrew from the 2024
White House race and endorsed her.
"Mark my words, I
understand Donald Trump’s ilk. In this campaign, I will proudly — I will
proudly pit my record against his," declared Harris, who previously served
as California’s attorney general and a U.S. senator before her vice presidency.
In response, the Trump campaign
had its retort. "Kamala Harris is as inept as Joe Biden and even more
liberal," remarked Karoline Leavitt, the campaign's national press
secretary. "Kamala must defend her support for Joe Biden’s failed agenda
and address her own abysmal, lenient crime record in California."
Trump, slated for sentencing in
September after being found guilty of falsifying business records to conceal
hush money payments to a porn star, also faces criminal charges linked to his
attempts to overturn Biden's 2020 win, which he falsely claims was due to
election fraud.
Biden, having pulled out of the
race on Sunday amidst questions regarding his age and health, called into
Harris’s campaign event from his Delaware home where he is recuperating from
COVID-19. He sounded hoarse but appreciative of his vice president. Biden
expressed confidence in his decision to step down. As the oldest individual to
ever hold the Oval Office, Biden announced on Sunday he would serve until his
term concludes on January 20, 2025.
Harris, 59, laid out a series
of policies she aims to enact, including legislation to protect abortion rights
and ban assault rifles, emphasizing a commitment to revitalizing the middle
class.
Following Biden’s endorsement
on Sunday, Harris swiftly began consolidating Democratic support for her
presidential campaign. She secured commitments from hundreds of convention
delegates, announced a significant fundraising haul, and garnered endorsements
from key party figures.
Among her supporters was former
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who remains influential since stepping down as the
party's leader in 2022. On Monday, the AFL-CIO labor union federation,
representing 12.5 million workers, also endorsed Harris.
The Harris campaign aims to
lock in commitments from a majority of the nearly 4,000 Democratic delegates
for next month’s Democratic National Convention by Wednesday evening,
effectively securing the nomination. Campaign officials and allies have made
extensive calls urging delegates to nominate Harris for the November 5
election.
Harris’s campaign reported
raising $81 million within 24 hours of Biden's exit, marking the highest
single-day total for any 2024 campaign. Virtually all prominent Democrats who
were potential challengers have thrown their support behind her, including
Governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Gavin Newsom of California, and Andy
Beshear of Kentucky. Whitmer announced on X that she would serve as co-chair of
Harris’s campaign.
Biden's exit is the latest
shock to a tumultuous White House race, marked by his disastrous June 27 debate
against Trump and the July 13 near-assassination attempt on Trump during a
campaign stop. Harris praised Biden’s service. "Joe Biden’s legacy over
the past three years is unparalleled in modern history," she stated at a
White House event honoring college athletes.
Harris will travel to Milwaukee
on Tuesday, the largest city in the battleground state of Wisconsin, which
recently hosted the Republican National Convention, showcasing Trump's
dominance over his party. Harris, who is Black and Asian American, presents a
stark generational and cultural contrast to Trump, 78.
The Trump campaign has been
preparing for Harris’s rise, releasing a detailed critique of her record on
immigration and other issues on Monday, accusing her of being more liberal than
Biden. They claimed she favored abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agency, decriminalizing border crossings, supporting the Green New
Deal, backing electric vehicle mandates, and encouraging defund the police
efforts.
Some of these positions were
from her 2020 presidential campaign, where she ran on a more progressive
platform than Biden, but were not adopted by the administration, particularly
concerning border security and law enforcement.
Former Attorney General Eric
Holder and his firm, Covington & Burling, are overseeing the vetting of
Harris's potential running mates. Trump, whose false claims of election fraud
inspired the January 6, 2021, Capitol assault, questioned Democrats’ right to
change candidates. "They stole the race from Biden after he won it in the
primaries," Trump posted on Truth Social.
At a rally for Trump’s running
mate, JD Vance, Ohio state Sen. George Lang called for civil war if Trump
didn't win the November election, later retracting his statement on X. "We
should all be mindful of what is said at political events, myself
included," he wrote.
Harris is likely to adhere
closely to Biden’s foreign policy approach on issues such as China, Iran, and
Ukraine, but might adopt a tougher stance with Israel over the Gaza war if
elected. Some Democrats are concerned about the historical barriers of racial
and gender discrimination. The U.S. has never elected a female president in its
nearly 250-year history.
Polls
conducted before Biden’s withdrawal did not show Harris performing better than
Biden against Trump. Biden has not been seen publicly since his COVID-19
diagnosis. He tentatively plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu on Tuesday if he has recovered.
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