Vice President Harris rallied an enthusiastic crowd in crisis-hit Georgia on Tuesday, blasting former President Trump on key issues including border security.
“The momentum in this race is shifting and there are indications that Donald Trump is feeling that. You may have noticed it,” the vice president told an audience in Atlanta.
She accused former President Trump of “pulling away” from the November debate after he said he would “probably” debate Harris at a scheduled debate in September.
“Donald, I hope you’ll reconsider meeting me on the debate stage. As the saying goes, if you’ve got something to say, say it to my face,” she said, eliciting cheers from the crowd.
Her trip to Atlanta was an attempt to build on the wave of enthusiasm she’s seen in both fundraising and volunteer sign-ups since she announced her intention to seek the Democratic nomination a little over a week ago, and she noted that ahead of November she’s focused on Georgia, a state that President Biden won in 2020 by fewer than 12,000 votes.
“The road to the White House went through this state and you helped us win in 2020 and we will win again in 2024. Yes, we will,” Harris said.
She attacked President Trump over the border and vowed to pass a bipartisan immigration bill negotiated by the Senate if elected.
“In this race, I’m proud to put my track record on the line against him,” she said, highlighting her work as California’s attorney general taking down international gangs, drug cartels and human traffickers.
“I’ve filed lawsuit after lawsuit and won, while Donald Trump talks big about securing the border but doesn’t do anything. As my friend Quavo says, he’s not walking the talk,” she said, quoting the rapper who spoke before her at the rally.
She noted that Senate Republicans had twice blocked passage of the bill after the former president urged Republicans to oppose it and suggested it could help President Biden win in an election year.
“This shows that Donald Trump doesn’t care about border security, he only cares about himself,” she said. “If I’m president, I’m going to try to actually fix the problem.”
“As president, I will reinstate the border security bill that Donald Trump killed and sign it into law, showing Donald Trump what true leadership looks like,” she added.
After the defeat of a bill Biden lobbied for vigorously, the president issued an executive order to turn away migrants seeking asylum who cross the southern border illegally during a period of routinely high-volume encounters.
Harris’ campaign released a new video about the border early Tuesday, pushing back against the Trump campaign’s debut of an ad positioning Harris as the Biden administration’s “border minister,” citing her work to address the root causes of migration in the Northern Triangle.
Harris also told the Atlanta audience that “prices remain too high” and outlined what she would do to bring them down, saying she would implement policies such as curbing unfair price increases, banning hidden fees, capping “unfair” rent increases and capping prescription drug prices for all Americans “starting on day one.”
Her economic plan is largely consistent with the campaign pledges Biden made when he was seeking reelection, and many of its features, particularly efforts to crack down on hidden fees, are extensions of what his administration has done to combat inflation.
Additionally, the vice president said that as president, he would pass voting rights bills such as the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Georgia has been the epicenter of controversial election policy since Governor Brian Kemp (R) passed a restrictive law in 2021 that banned the distribution of food and water to voters waiting to cast their ballots.
Two of the most popular black rappers, Quavo and Megan Thee Stallion, took the stage before Harris and encouraged rally-goers to come together in November.
Grammy Award-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion performed a medley of her hits, including “Body” and “Savage.” In the intro to “Body,” she alluded to Harris’ stance on reproductive freedom, saying, “I know that women in this room love their bodies. And if you want to continue loving your bodies, you know who to vote for.”
“Our country is about to make history with our first female president,” she said, “and our country’s first Black woman president.”
Quavo, an Atlanta native and member of the hip-hop group Migos, said he had previously worked with Harris to address gun violence, adding, “One thing I’ve learned working with the vice president is she’s always been all about business.”
Cheyanne M. Daniels contributed to this report.
