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17-08-2024
WASHINGTON: Vice-President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden have appeared at an event together for the first time since the president ended his run for a second term and Harris replaced him as the Democratic nominee.
The event, held just outside Washington DC, came as Donald Trump spoke at a news conference in New Jersey his second campaign event in the past two days.
The Democratic event on Thursday celebrated the Biden administration’s newly announced deal to cut the cost of 10 common prescription drugs for millions of Americans.
It also offered a glimpse of the pair’s dynamic, weeks into a realignment of the party ticket.
The White House said some 2,300 people attended Thursday’s rally in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, a Democratic stronghold.
“I have an incredible partner in the progress we made,” the president said. “She going to make one hell of a president.” but more than the policy announcement, Biden boosted his vice-president. He brought the crowd to their feet multiple times.
The warm feelings were mutual.
“There’s a lot of love in this room for our president,” Harris said. “Few leaders in our nation have done more, on so many issues, including to expand access to affordable healthcare, than Joe Biden.”
Thousands stood in line in the summer heat for the chance to see Biden and Harris speak. Social media video showed hundreds still in line as the venue reached capacity.
It’s the latest in a series of events Harris has hosted that have drawn large crowds of supporters, marking a noticeable shift in energy in the presidential race.
Harris, however, has largely avoided media questions and has yet to sit down for an interview since becoming her party’s candidate.
Her supporters’ enthusiasm is showing up in polling data, too. A recent survey from the Cook Political Report suggests Harris is erasing former President Donald Trump’s polling leads in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Vivian Strong waited three hours to get into Thursday’s event. She hoped to be part of a historic moment, she told media.
“I feel a sense of urgency to actually ensure she gets elected,” she said. “I would hate to have another administration of the other guy.”
Before the president and vice-president took the stage, some supporters led the crowd in chants from Howard University, the historically black university Harris attended in Washington DC.
Many supporters of the vice-president donned pink and green, the colors of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (AKA) to which M Harris belonged.
Linda Jones, a Howard alumna and a member of AKA, said their shared identity excites her but she was also eager to see Biden speak.
“I’m happy for President Biden to get something accomplished that he’s worked so hard for,” Jones told media, referring to the prescription drug deal.
“He’s such a good man and I felt very bad he was leaving with a cloud, so now I feel (this policy) is one more boost for him.”
Meanwhile, Trump, who spoke from his golf resort in Bedminster, lashed out as Harris over the course of his press conference his second in as many weeks.
He argued that he was “entitled to personal attacks” against Harris, and hit on his main campaign themes, attacking her record on inflation, crime and immigration.
Trump, flanked by common grocery store items with signs showing cost increases in recent years for each, asked: “How can a family afford that?” (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
