Harris hopes to take advantage of President Biden's support

2024-09-02 20:16:47, Kosova & Bota CNA

Harris hopes to take advantage of President Biden's support

Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden

Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden will campaign together Monday in Pennsylvania, as Ms. Harris tries to present her candidacy as "a new way forward." However, she remains loyal to President Biden and his policies.

The pair will participate in the Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh and give speeches. It will be the first time the two will share the podium together since President Biden withdrew from the race for re-election, being replaced by Ms. Harris, which boosted Democratic enthusiasm.

Ms. Harris' campaign team has said Pennsylvania voters are feeling energized since the vice president received the party's nomination six weeks ago. The team has announced that tens of thousands of new volunteers have signed up to help it and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate. Mrs. Harris and President Biden's participation in the parade, one of the largest such in the country, is part of the election campaign in the battleground state with more than two months to go until Election Day. Vice President Harris first heads to Detroit on Monday for a campaign rally before meeting with President Biden in Pennsylvania.

Ms. Harris has sought to woo voters by positioning herself as a political break with offensive language, rejecting the harsh rhetoric of her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump. It is also trying to move beyond the era of President Biden. Still, while her speeches may be different from Mr. Biden's, Ms. Harris' agenda is full of the same issues he has championed: cost containment for prescription drugs, the economy and helping families afford care. the children.

“We fight for a future where we build what I call an economy that creates opportunities for every American to have the opportunity to own a home, start a business and build wealth across generations. To have a future where we lower the cost of living for America," she said at a recent rally, echoing similar calls from President Biden.

Vice President Harris appeared briefly on stage with President Biden after he delivered his speech on the opening night of last month's Democratic National Convention. But the two have not given speeches at the same political event since Mr. Biden himself was running for the post of President. At the time, Mr. Biden's team used Ms. Harris primarily as a campaign spokeswoman for abortion rights, an issue they believe could help them win in November.

The pair have occasionally appeared at official events and have met together at the White House since Mr. Biden's withdrawal from the race for re-election.

For more than 3 1/2 years, Vice President Harris has been one of Mr. Biden's main supporters. Now things have changed, as Ms Harris appears to be leaning on Mr Biden - who was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania - to win the potentially pivotal state. President Biden, for his part, has withdrawn quite a bit from public life since ending the election race. He was last at the White House on August 19 and has since been on vacation in Southern California and Delaware.

But even though she has taken over the leadership of the Democratic Party, Mrs. Harris has remained steadfastly on the side of President Biden. In her first interview since the Democratic Party switched candidates, Ms. Harris passionately defended President Biden's job and ability to get the job done, despite the events of the past two months that ended with her running for the Oval Office.

The 81-year-old president withdrew from the race for re-election in July after a debate with former President Trump in which his performance was deemed too weak. After the debate, there was unprecedented pressure within his party for him to make room for a new generation. Ms Harris and Republican rival Trump will debate on September 10.

"He cares a lot about the American people. He is so smart and loyal to the American people. I have spent hours with it. "He has the intelligence, dedication and attitude that I think the American people rightly deserve to find in their president," she said in last week's interview.

She added of Mr Trump: "In contrast, the former president has none of that."

Vice President Harris said during the interview on the American network CNN that working with Mr. Biden was "one of the greatest honors of my career" and she shared the moment when he called her to tell her he was leaving.

"He told me what he had decided to do and ... I asked him: 'Are you sure?' and he said, 'Yes,' and that's how I learned about this decision."

The vice president said that she did not need to ask President Biden for his support because "he was very clear that he would support me."

Ms. Harris has also defended the outcome of the work on the southern border and immigration, one of the most persistent and vexing issues of President Biden's administration. She said she was tasked with trying to understand the "root causes" of immigration in other countries where immigrants came from, although Republicans have labeled her "the person responsible for dealing with the border problem."

"We have laws that must be followed and enforced that deal with people who cross our border illegally, and there must be consequences," Vice President Harris said.

Although she has used harsher language while speaking about the plight of civilians in Gaza, the Vice President has also supported President Biden's efforts to arm Israel and reach a hostage and cease-fire agreement.

Israel announced on Sunday that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages taken during the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the Gaza war. Among the six hostages killed was Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The announcement prompted tens of thousands of Israelis to demonstrate in the streets demanding a ceasefire agreement.

Ms. Harris joined President Biden on Monday at the White House to meet with the US negotiating team to discuss their ongoing efforts for an agreement that would secure the release of the remaining hostages./ VOA