Under an
Intense Spotlight, Harris Backs Biden and Slams Trump in Nevada
In her sixth
visit to Las Vegas this year, Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted the
stakes of President Biden’s fight against Donald J. Trump.
Vice
President Kamala Harris has hit the campaign trail hard after President Biden’s
debate with former President Donald J. Trump last month. “It’s going to be a
microscope or magnifying glass,” said Steve Sisolak, a Democrat who is a former
Nevada governor.
Kellen
Browning Katie GlueckZolan
Kanno-Youngs
By Kellen
Browning, Katie Glueck and Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Kellen
Browning and Zolan Kanno-Youngs reported from Las Vegas and Katie Glueck
reported from New York.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/09/us/politics/kamala-harris-las-vegas-nevada.html
July 9, 2024
Vice
President Kamala Harris returned to Nevada on Tuesday for her sixth visit to
the battleground state this year, her 14th since taking office and her first
since some prominent Democrats began openly discussing whether she should
replace her running mate at the top of the ticket.
Against that
extraordinary backdrop, Ms. Harris kept the focus on the race as it stood,
framing the choice between President Biden, 81, and former President Donald J.
Trump, 78, as a decision between a country of “freedom, compassion and rule of
law” and one of “chaos, fear and hate.”
Speaking in
the ballroom of a Las Vegas casino, Ms. Harris ran through a list of policies
proposed in Project 2025, a blueprint developed by Republicans, including some
of Mr. Trump’s advisers, who hope he will incorporate ideas like curtailing the
Education Department and limiting access to abortion in his second-term agenda.
“If
implemented, this plan would be the latest attack in Donald Trump’s full-on
assault on reproductive freedom,” she told a crowd of hundreds.
As some
Democrats — horrified by Mr. Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month —
urge him not to seek re-election or question his ability to serve a second
term, the spotlight on Ms. Harris is perhaps at its most intense since she
became vice president.
“It’s going
to be a microscope or magnifying glass,” former Gov. Steve Sisolak of Nevada, a
Democrat who supports Mr. Biden’s re-election, said in an interview before the
event, which he attended. “People are looking for some indication from her,
some signal, if there were one, that something might change.”
They did not
get one. Ms. Harris stuck to the script, only briefly alluding to Mr. Biden’s
woes.
“We always
knew this election would be tough, and the past few days have been a reminder
that running for president of the United States is never easy,” she said. “But
the one thing we know about our president, Joe Biden, is that he is a fighter.”
Mr. Biden,
who trailed in polling in swing states even before the debate, has been
increasingly adamant that he is not leaving the race, and some key Democrats
have highlighted their support for him this week. Ms. Harris has backed him at
every turn, making a crisp case for his candidacy and relentlessly promoting
the administration’s record at events and in media appearances.
But that has
not stopped intraparty wrangling over the future of the ticket less than four
months before Election Day.
A number of
Democrats, including members of the Democratic National Committee, have already
said that if Mr. Biden were to step aside, there should be an open and
competitive process to determine the party’s nominee. Others have said that, in
that scenario, the party should rapidly unite behind Ms. Harris.
“I don’t
want to see an open convention — that drags it out longer, puts the Democrats
in disarray,” said Representative Dina Titus, a Nevada Democrat whose district
includes parts of Las Vegas. “Let’s get it resolved. And having her step up
would be the easiest way to go. But for now, I’m hoping that the ticket remains
Biden-Harris.”
Ms. Harris
promoted that ticket on Tuesday, while seeking to turn the nation’s focus back
to Mr. Trump at an event aimed at Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific
Islander communities. As the first woman, and the first woman of color, to hold
the vice presidency, she is playing a vital role in trying to shore up support
among key Democratic constituencies, including young people, women and Black
voters, that have lagged in enthusiasm.
“Someone who
vilifies immigrants, who promotes xenophobia, someone who stokes hate, should
never again have the chance to stand behind a microphone and the seal of the
president of the United States,” she said.
As she began
her three-state tour to energize voters in Nevada, Texas and North Carolina,
Ms. Harris was in a peculiar position.
An
increasing number of Democrats have come around to backing her as a potential
leader of the party if Mr. Biden were to step down. They believe she is crucial
to energizing their base. But each time she delivers a speech contrasting Mr.
Biden with Mr. Trump, she in effect contrasts her messaging ability with the
president’s.
Stefanie
Brown James, a founder of the Collective PAC, an organization dedicated to
electing Black officials, said Ms. Harris should not be concerned with whether
her performance this week would spotlight Mr. Biden’s limitations.
“We need her
to shine her light. She should not dim her light because people feel it will
overshadow his. She is who she is,” Ms. James said. “Quite frankly, it is a
woman thing. It’s a Black woman thing. We are often asked to dim our light
because it will diminish someone else.”
Representative
Seth Moulton, Democrat of Massachusetts who has called for Mr. Biden to step
down as the party’s presidential nominee, acknowledged Ms. Harris’s awkward
position. But he said she should continue to be aggressive in her messaging.
“She’s doing
exactly the right thing,” Mr. Moulton said. “She’s out campaigning as she
should. This is an incredibly difficult position for the vice president. But
guess what? You’re the vice president of the United States. You signed up for
difficult positions. She’ll be fine.”
In Ms.
Harris’s many visits to Nevada this spring, she has spoken to local union
members and appeared alongside prominent Black women to talk about protecting
abortion rights.
Before the
campaign event on Tuesday, she made a surprise visit to the Team USA basketball
camp in Las Vegas, where star N.B.A. players are preparing for this summer’s
Olympics.
“You need to
go to Paris and bring back that gold,” Ms. Harris told the players, including
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, LeBron James of the Los Angeles
Lakers and Jrue Holiday of the Boston Celtics.
The Biden
campaign faces an uphill battle in Nevada, where Mr. Trump has generally had a
polling advantage in recent surveys.
Ms. Harris’s
short but assertive speech energized the crowd, which occasionally broke into
chants of “Four more years.” Some attendees said they remained excited about a
Biden-Harris ticket.
Pete Rayner,
51, praised Ms. Harris for going on offense against Mr. Trump and Project 2025.
(The former president claimed no knowledge of the project last week.)
“I like that
attack style, because this is what they do to us,” said Mr. Rayner, a hotel
bellman, referring to Republicans. He acknowledged that Ms. Harris might be
more effective at countering political opponents on the fly than Mr. Biden was.
Others, more
quietly, were less sure about the Democratic ticket.
Elyse Davis,
65, a retired lawyer, said she and other Nevadans she knew were still sorting
through their concerns about Mr. Biden and deciding whether they wanted him to
leave the race.
“A lot of
people are very concerned about Biden’s mental status,” Ms. Davis said. “For
that reason, I think the undecided voters may opt not to vote for him.”
Jazmine
Ulloa contributed reporting.
Kellen
Browning is a Times reporter covering the 2024 election, with a focus on the
swing states of Nevada and Arizona. More about Kellen Browning
Katie Glueck
covers American politics with a focus on the Democratic Party. More about Katie
Glueck
Zolan
Kanno-Youngs is a White House correspondent, covering President Biden and his
administration. More about Zolan Kanno-Youngs
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