US Vice President Kamala Harris drew on her prosecutorial background to make her first expansive pitch on immigration to border-state voters as she and her new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, attracted thousands to a campaign rally in Arizona during their tour of battleground states.
Harris, the former attorney general of California, reminded the crowd that she, as a law enforcement official, targeted transnational gangs, drug cartels and smugglers.
“I prosecuted them in case after case, and I won,” Harris said in front of a crowd of more than 15,000 in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix. “So I know what I’m talking about.”
Photo: AFP
Harris promoted a border security bill that a bipartisan group of senators negotiated earlier this year, which Republican lawmakers ultimately opposed en masse at former US president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s behest.
“Donald Trump does not want to fix this problem,” Harris said. “Be clear about that: He has no interest or desire to actually fix the problem. He talks a big game about border security, but he does not walk the walk.”
Her effort to address immigration — a political liability that has dogged Harris for most of her vice presidency — head-on in the critical battleground state is part of a broader push from her campaign to make gains in Sun Belt states that had become increasingly out of reach with US President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket.
In Arizona, every vote would be critical. The state is no stranger to nail-biter races, including in 2020 when Biden bested Trump by fewer than 11,000 votes. Both parties are bracing for a similar photo finish this year.
Harris acknowledged how tough the race would be as she and Walz toured a campaign office in North Phoenix on Friday afternoon and thanked volunteers. “As exciting as this is, we cannot lose sight of a really important fact: We are definitely running as the underdog,” she said.
Arizona was reliably Republican until Trump’s combative approach to politics went national.
In 2016, Trump won Arizona, then quickly started feuding with late Republican Senator John McCain, a political icon in the state. That sparked a steady exodus of educated, moderate Republicans from the party and toward Democrats in top-of-the-ticket contests.
In 2018, Democrats won an open Senate race in the state, foreshadowing Senator Mark Kelly’s and Biden’s wins in 2020.
In 2022, Kelly won again, and Democrats swept the top three statewide races for governor, attorney general and secretary of state, defeating Republican candidates who hewed to Trump’s style and his lies about fraud costing him the 2020 presidential election.
Chuck Coughlin, a Republican strategist and former McCain staffer, said the same voters who tipped the state to Democrats in the past few cycles remain lukewarm, at best, on Trump.
“Trump’s not doing anything to embrace that segment of the electorate,” he said.
Meanwhile, there was a fresh reminder of yet another liability for Harris when she was interrupted by Gaza protesters.
Harris said she has been clear that “now is the time to get a cease-fire deal” to end fighting between Israel and Hamas that has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people in Gaza. She said that she and Biden “are working around the clock every day to get that cease-fire deal done and bring the hostages home.”
Harris added, “I respect your voices, but we are here to now talk about this race in 2024.”
She responded differently earlier this week when Gaza protesters interrupted her during a Detroit-area rally. “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking,” she said at the rally.
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