Vice President Harris rallied an enthusiastic crowd in the critical state of Georgia on Tuesday, calling out former President Trump over hot-button issues like border security.
“The momentum in this race is shifting and there are signs that Donald Trump is feeling it — you may have noticed,” the vice president told the crowd in Atlanta.
She called out Trump for “pulling out” of the debate in November after the former president said he will “probably” debate Harris at the previously agreed to debate in September.
“Well Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage because as the saying goes, if you got something to say, say it to my face,” she said, eliciting cheers from the crowd.
She traveled to Atlanta as she looks to build on a wave of enthusiasm, seen through both fundraising and volunteer sign-ups, that she has enjoyed since she announced her intention to seek the Democratic nomination just over a week ago. She noted her focus on Georgia, which President Biden won in 2020 by fewer than 12,000 votes, ahead of November.
“The path to the White House runs right through this state and you all helped us win in 2020, and we’re going to do it again in 2024. Yes, we will,” Harris said.
She hit Trump over the border, vowing to get the bipartisan immigration legislation that was negotiated in the Senate signed into law if she is elected.
“In this campaign, I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week,” she said, highlighting that as attorney general of California, she went after transnational gangs, drug cartels and human traffickers.
“I prosecuted them in case after case and I won. Donald Trump, Donald Trump on the other hand has been talking a big game about securing our border but he does not walk the walk or, as my friend Quavo would say, he does not walk it like he talks it,” she said, quoting the rapper who spoke before her at the rally.
She noted that Republicans in the Senate blocked passage of the bill twice after the former president urged the GOP to oppose the legislation, suggesting it could give President Biden an election-year win.
“Which goes to show, Donald Trump does not care about border security, he only cares about himself,” she said. “When I am president, I will work to actually solve the problem.”
“As president I will bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump killed, and I will sign it into law and show Donald Trump what real leadership looks like,” she added.
After the bill that Biden actively lobbied for failed, the president issued an executive order to turn away migrants seeking asylum who cross the southern border illegally at times when there is a high volume of daily encounters.
Earlier Tuesday, the Harris campaign released a new video on the border, hitting back at Trump after his campaign debuted an ad tagging Harris as the Biden administration’s “border czar,” a reference to her work addressing root causes of migration in the Northern Triangle region.
Harris also told the crowd in Atlanta that “prices are still too high” and outlined what she would do to lower them, saying that “on Day One,” she would implement policies like curbing price gouging, banning more hidden fees, capping “unfair” rent increases and capping prescription drug prices for all Americans.
Her economic plans largely line up with Biden’s campaign promises when he was running for reelection, and much of it, especially the work to crack down on hidden fees, is an extension of what the Biden administration has done to combat inflation.
Additionally, the vice president said as president that she would pass voting rights bills, including the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Georgia has been the epicenter of controversial election policies after Gov. Brian Kemp (R) passed a law in 2021 that prohibits the distribution of food or water to voters waiting to cast their ballots, among other restrictions.
Two of the most popular Black rappers, Quavo and Megan Thee Stallion, took the stage before Harris and urged rallygoers to show up in November.
Grammy award-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion performed a medley of some of her top hits — including “Body” and “Savage.” In her intro to “Body,” she alluded to Harris’s stance on reproductive freedom, saying, “I know my ladies in the crowd love their body. If you wanna keep loving your body, you know who to vote for.”
“We’re about to make history with our first female president,” she said. “Our first Black female president.”
Quavo, an Atlanta native and member of the hip-hop group Migos, noted that he had previously worked with Harris to address gun violence, adding, “One thing I learned about working with vice president is she always stands on business.”
Cheyanne M. Daniels contributed to this report.