‘A fight for the future’: Kamala Harris vows to take on Donald Trump’s ‘extremist’ agenda in first campaign rally speech
23 July 2024, 20:24
Kamala Harris vowed to take on Donald Trumps ‘extremist’ agenda as she spoke at her first campaign rally as the Democratic presidential nominee.
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Ms Harris, who has the support of enough delegates to run against Mr Trump in November, started her speech by paying tribute to Joe Biden and his ‘unmatched’ legacy.
But the Vice President quickly moved onto Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, pointing out his scandals involving fraud and sexual assault.
“I know Trump’s type,” Ms Harris added.
It marks a continuation of Ms Harris' 2019 Presidential campaign, in which she highlighted herself as the 'anti-Trump candidate' given her history as a prosecutor.
“As attorney-general of California, I took on one of our country's largest for profit colleges that was scamming students. Donald Trump ran a for profit college that scammed students,” she told the crowd in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“As a prosecutor, I specialised in cases involving sexual abuse. Well, Trump was found liable for committing sexual abuse.
“As attorney general of California, I took on the big Wall Street banks and held them accountable for fraud. Donald Trump was just found guilty of fraud on 34 counts.”
In addition to Mr Trump's criminal scandals, Ms Harris highlighted another political issue that will be at the centre of her campaign: abortion.
Abortion in the US was made legal in a landmark case, Roe V Wade, in 1973.
But that right was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022, giving individual states the power to ban the procedure.
An impassioned Ms Harris told the crowd: “We who believe in reproductive freedom…will stop Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own body and not have Government tell them what to do.”
It represents a marked difference to her Republican opponents, including Mr Trump's running mate J.D. Vance, who does not believe in abortion even in the case of rape or incest.
Suella Braverman has said she would vote for Donald Trump if she was a US citizen
The Democrats are also keen to continue some of the messaging that had been used during Joe Biden's re-election campaign, including over the ‘Project 2025’ agenda.
Mr Trump recently tried to distance himself from the extreme agenda, but Democrats point out it was created by officials who served under the former US President.
Created by the Heritage Foundation, the documents calls for thousands of civil servants to be sacked, giving more power to the President, banning abortion pills, and tax cuts for the super rich.
Ms Harris said: “Donald Trump wants to take our country backward. Him and his extreme 2025 agenda will weaken the middle class.”
“We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead, a future where no child has to grow up in poverty, where every worker has the freedom to join a union,” she added.
