(AFP) – Kamala Harris released her first campaign ad Thursday and headed to Texas to address a teachers union — a key ingredient in the Democratic coalition — as she seeks to maintain her fast start in the bid to take on Donald Trump for the presidency this November.
Harris has enjoyed a groundswell of support since announcing her 11th-hour candidacy to replace President Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate. She has rapidly united the Democratic Party behind her, getting a slew of endorsements from labor groups, Black and Latino voters and a surge in interest from young voters.
The 59-year-old former US senator and first woman vice president will address the American Federation of Teachers national convention in Houston, a speech her campaign framed as part of her “consistent efforts to fight for workers across America.”
She will return to Washington to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late afternoon.
Harris jumped into the race after weeks of turmoil over 81-year-old Biden, who bowed out of the race Sunday after a dismal debate performance against Trump accelerated concerns over his mental capacity and persistently low polling numbers.
On Tuesday, she whipped up a rapturous crowd at her first rally since effectively clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, while launching new attacks on Trump for trying to “take the country backward.”
While Biden used to target Trump as a threat to democracy, Harris has adopted a more personal and targeted approach, focusing on his record as a felon.
She pointed to her work as a California prosecutor dealing with what she said were “predators” and “fraudsters” before adding: “So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type.”
But she is facing increasingly extreme rhetoric from Trump, who on Wednesday called her a “radical left lunatic” and claimed — entirely falsely — that she was in favor of the “execution” of newborn babies.
Trump, 78, also alleged on Fox News on Thursday that Harris had benefited from a Democratic “coup” against Biden.
– ‘Campaign of revenge’ –
“I think it was a coup. They didn’t want him running. He was way down in the polls, and they thought he was going to lose,” Trump said. “They went to him and they said, you can’t win the race… and they forced him out — between Pelosi and Obama and some others that you see on television.”
One of the most urgent tasks facing Harris is to forge her own political identity before she can be defined by Trump as inseparable from the unpopular Biden.
This will include quickly spending some of the $100 million-plus that she has raised in the opening days to tell her personal story and to counter Republican characterizations of her as an out-of-touch liberal and responsible for illegal immigration.
The Harris campaign sought to plant an early flag with its first TV spot Thursday — an ad featuring the Beyonce hit “Freedom,” warning that Americans’ rights are under threat from Trump.
Under the slogan “We Choose Freedom,” Harris invites voters to unite against Project 2025 — a radical blueprint for centralizing power in the presidency that was promoted by Trump and prepared by many of his current and former aides.
Trump has recently tried to distance himself from the 900-page plan, which would remake the federal government in his image, removing key checks on his power and purging the entire administration of officials who are not unswervingly loyal. However the plan tracks closely with many of the policies Trump and his closest advisors have said they want to pursue.
Harris accuses Trump, of “running a campaign of revenge and retribution for himself, no matter who else he hurts.”
© 2024 AFP
