During her campaign in Philadelphia on Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris asked voters to picture either her in the White House or her opponent, Donald Trump, “stewing over his enemies list.” Harris outlined the stark choice voters face in the presidential election.
Speaking to reporters following a stop at a West Philadelphia Black church, Harris restated a recent claim that the election is a simple vote between two candidates who have very different ideas about what it means to be president.
She invoked the date of the next president’s inauguration by saying, “Just imagine the Oval Office on Jan. 20.” One of two people will be involved. Either Donald Trump or I will win.
At a neighborhood basketball court, she organized a gathering.
During the rally, Harris declared, “The election is here, and the choice Philadelphia is genuinely in your hands.” “All of the leaders present are directly on the road to success. Through you all.
Voters would get a president who is “full of grievances” if they choose Trump, she continued. He frequently uses ominous language that alludes to vengeance and retribution. The American people are therefore faced with a decision. Either that or me there, concentrating on my to-do list, will occur.
“We have an opportunity before us to turn the page on the fear and the divisiveness that have characterized our politics for a decade because of Donald Trump,” she said during the event. Since we are fed up with the same old worn-out playbook and are prepared to design a fresh course for the future, we have the power to move on. And it is true that we will enjoy the process.
Harris is campaigning in Philadelphia, the largest Democratic stronghold in Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground state that might ultimately determine the outcome of the presidential election, for the majority of the day.
She spoke to a gathering of young Black guys inside a barbershop in West Philadelphia, a demographic her campaign has been actively targeting. Later in the day, we visited a Puerto Rican restaurant, a neighborhood bookshop, and a youth basketball facility for a community rally.
She discussed the value of Black instructors in classrooms at the barbershop.
By the end of the third grade, a Black child who has a Black teacher is about 13% more likely to attend college, according to the statistics, Harris stated. “They are about 30% more likely to have had two Black teachers by the third grade.”
Pro-Palestine demonstrators briefly disrupted the rally. Harris paused her speech to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict, stating that it was time to end the hostilities and bring peace to the region.
Her team has launched a big get-out-the-vote drive, and this trip marks her 14th visit to Pennsylvania since she entered the race in July.
Harris’ campaign needs to win Pennsylvania since it has 19 electoral votes. The state is a member of the “blue wall,” which Democrats have historically used to attain the crucial 270 electoral votes, along with Michigan and Wisconsin. Four years after defeating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, Trump lost the state to Joe Biden.
“I’m spending time here and have been spending time here because Philadelphia is a very important part of our path to victory,” Harris said to reporters.
