Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday did what former President Donald J. Trump has been doing in recent days: release a health report, give an interview on “60 Minutes,” and participate in another presidential debate. He objected because he refused to do so.
“You wonder, why would his staff want him to go into hiding?” Harris told the audience at a packed college basketball stadium in Greenville, North Carolina. Is he afraid that people will see him as too weak and unstable to lead the United States?
Her series of attacks signaled an attempt to turn the tide against Trump. For months, Trump has suggested Biden is too old to be president and accused him of hiding from the American people. And it was her closing message in the final week of the campaign, underscoring her efforts to portray herself as a candidate for change and Mr. Trump as a relic of the past.
“From him we’re just hearing the same old, tired playbook,” she said. “He has no plan for how to meet the needs of the American people. He’s only focused on himself.”
Harris’ rally, which drew about 7,000 people, was aimed at encouraging supporters, especially in presidential battleground states, to vote before Election Day. Early voting begins Thursday in North Carolina. “The election has begun,” she said.
Opinion polls show that the move was also aimed at mobilizing black voters, a key Democratic constituency where support for Harris has waned since 2020. A survey of likely black voters conducted by The New York Times and Siena College found that about 8 in 10 black voters plan to vote for Harris. Although this is an overwhelming majority, it is more than 10 points behind Biden’s approval rating four years ago. . The softening in support was particularly pronounced among black men, 70% of whom said they planned to support her.
Approximately four in 10 Greenville residents are Black, and the city is surrounded by rural areas with large Black populations that are often said to be ignored by the national movement. No Democratic presidential candidate has won North Carolina since Barack Obama in 2008. Harris is within one point of Trump in the state, according to a Times poll average, and she will almost certainly need to win to take back the White House.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Harris’ remarks Sunday. Trump spoke at a rally in Prescott Valley, Arizona, on Sunday, delivering multiple long speeches each day and portraying himself as a tireless campaigner who can weather the rigors of political travel.
“Who can do this two or three times in a day?” Trump said. “So I talk for hours, almost without using a teleprompter,” and use mispronunciations of words to claim “he’s cognitively impaired” or “he’s old.” He laughed at the reporters.
After avoiding media interviews during the early stages of his aborted campaign, the vice president has recently embarked on a flurry of interviews with both mainstream journalists and non-traditional settings such as podcasts. She appeared on the “60 Minutes” special last Monday. CBS reported that Trump also agreed to be interviewed on the show, but later declined.
Harris received a letter from her doctor on Saturday declaring that she is in “excellent health” and has the “physical and mental resilience necessary to successfully carry out the duties of the presidency.” also announced.
Harris’ supporters say the final three weeks of the campaign will focus on attracting black voters who are not yet planning to vote for her. Democrats hope to re-build the party’s black voter base through town hall-style events, voter outreach efforts aimed at black men, and the use of election agents.
They also plan to step up efforts to counter misinformation about Harris’ criminal justice record, holding events at historically black colleges and universities to engage black voters during homecoming season.
On Tuesday, Harris will be interviewed in Detroit by Charlamagne Tha God, one of the most popular black radio hosts in the country, on a nationally broadcast show.
“A good candidate’s job in a campaign is, first of all, to listen, and I think the Harris campaign is listening and addressing those concerns quite proactively,” said Co-founder and CEO of Collective PAC. CEO Quentin James said. , an organization that supports black political candidates.
Last week, the Harris campaign unleashed one of its biggest weapons: Obama, the nation’s first black president. At a campaign event in Pittsburgh, Mr. Obama said that while some voters cited the economy and immigration as reasons for their skepticism of Ms. Harris, he suggested that other factors may be at play.
“I think part of it is that you just don’t feel the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for it,” Obama said in a candid comment. mentioned in. This represented a significant, if calculated, risk to gaining support with elections just around the corner.
Jeffrey McIlwain, 59, who attended Sunday’s rally in Greenville, said he came to a similar conclusion after talking with several of the man’s friends and family members.
“I think they have a problem with the woman in the White House,” said Mr. McIlwain, a former bond trader and banker who lives in Durham.
But polls also show widespread support among some black voters that Democrats have not measurably improved their lives, even though they overwhelmingly support Democrats. It suggests anxiety. 40% of African American voters under 30 say Republicans are more likely than Democrats to follow through on their campaign promises.
Harris’ weekend visit to North Carolina included local relief efforts as the state recovers from the effects of Hurricane Helen last month. On Saturday, she helped create care packages at a barbecue restaurant and met with local Black elected officials and faith leaders.
Then, before Sunday’s rally, Ms. Harris attended a service at a majority-black church in Greenville as part of her campaign’s broader efforts to engage voters of black faith. The effort will also include a “Soul to Vote” movement centered around church attendees.
At the church, the vice president denounced efforts to spread misinformation about post-storm relief efforts. Although Harris did not name the former president in her remarks, Trump and the Republican Party have amplified a number of false claims.
“Instead of giving hope, there are people who try to channel people’s tragedies and sorrows into complaints and hatred,” she said, adding that their goal is “to play politics for the hurt of other people.” He claimed that.
