Vice President Kamala Harris turned into a star Saturday on the campaign trail, as she held events with musicians Lizzo and Usher in Michigan and Georgia, while former President Donald Trump rallied in the Crucial state of Pennsylvania.
At a rally in Atlanta, Harris said Trump was “cruel” for the way he spoke about the grieving family of a Georgia mother who died after waiting 20 hours for a hospital to treat her complications from a abortion pill, while imposing anti-reproductive care restrictions at the center of her pitch to voters.
Harris blamed The death of Amber Thurman on Georgia’s abortion restrictions that took effect after the Supreme Court in 2022, with three Trump-appointed justices, overturned Roe v. Wade. It comes as Harris is weighing in on the issue to shore up support for Democrats, who have pledged to restore the nation’s right to abortion if they win the White House and enough congressional seats.
“Donald Trump still refuses to take responsibility, to take any responsibility, for the pain and suffering he has caused,” Harris said.
Thurman’s story is at the center of one of Harris’ campaign closing ads, and her family attended her rally in Atlanta, with her mother holding a photo of her daughter in the audience. Harris showed a clip of Trump saying during a recent Fox News Channel town hall, when asked about the Thurman family’s participation in a separate media call: “We’ll get better ratings, I promise. “
Early voting is also underway in Georgia. More than 1.2 million ballots were cast, in person or by mail. Democrats hope a broad organizing effort will strengthen Harris against Trump in the final weeks of the campaign. Harris referenced the fact that former President Jimmy Carter recently voted by mail a few days after his 100th birthday.
“If Jimmy Carter can vote early, you can too,” Harris said.
Harris was joined at the rally by his hometown music icon Bailiffonce again relying on star power as she seeks to inspire voters to vote. Earlier on Saturday, she appeared with Lizzo in the singer’s hometown of Detroit, marking the start of in-person voting and lavishing praise on the city after Trump recently disparaged it.
“All the best things were made in Detroit. Coney Dogs, Faygo and Lizzo,” the singer joked to a gathered audience, pointing at herself after listing the hot dogs and sodas the city is famous for.
Lots of praise for the Motor City after Trump I insulted him during a recent campaign stop. And Harris continued the theme, saying of her campaign: “Like the people of Detroit, we have courage, we have excellence, we have history.”
More than 1 million Michigan residents have already voted by mail in the Nov. 5 election, and Harris predicted early voting turnout in Detroit would be strong.
She called Trump unstable: “Someone just needs to watch his rallies, if you don’t really know how to vote.”
“We’re not going to get those 17 days back. On Election Day, we don’t want to have any regrets,” the vice president said.
Lizzo also told the crowd, “Ms. Commander in Chief sounds great.”
“This is the swing state of all swing states, so every vote here counts,” the singer said. Then, referencing her song of the same title, Lizzo added: “If you ask me if America is ready for its first female president, I only have one thing to say: ‘It’s about time!’
Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign had suggested he would begin previewing his closing argument Saturday night, just two weeks from Election Day. But the former president began his rally with a detailed story about Arnold Palmer, at one point even praising the late legendary golfer’s genitals.
Trump was campaigning in Latrobe, Pennsylvaniawhere Palmer was born in 1929 and learned to play golf from his father, who suffered from polio and was head professional and greenskeeper at the local country club.
Politicians saluting Palmer in his hometown is nothing new. But Trump spent a full 12 minutes doing just that at the start of his speech and even suggested how much more fun the evening would be if Palmer, who died in 2016, could join him on stage.
“Arnold Palmer was entirely a man, and I say that with all due respect to women,” Trump said. “He’s a guy who was all man.”
Then he went even further.
“When he was taking showers with other pros, they would come out of there. They would say, ‘Oh my God. This is amazing,'” Trump said with a laugh. “I had to say it. We have some very sophisticated women here, but they considered Arnold a man.”
Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters before the speech that Trump planned to preview his closing argument against Harris and “start to get into that framework.”
Trump ultimately touched on many of his favorite campaign themes, but didn’t offer much in terms of a new framework for the race or why he should win it. Instead, he bragged about creating strong tax policies and a strong military during his first term.
He called Harris “crazy” and added profanity.
“You have to tell Kamala Harris that you’ve had enough, that you can’t take it anymore, that we can’t stand you anymore, that you’re vice president,” Trump said to roars from the crowd. “The worst. You are the worst vice president. Kamala, you’re fired. Get out of here.”
He also criticized Harris for suggesting during her unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign that she would support a ban on fracking, which is important to Pennsylvania’s economy and a position Harris’ campaign says ‘she no longer supports.
Trump invited members of a local steelworkers union that supported him to the stage. He wore a construction hat with his name on it.
He also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
“He said, ‘It’s unbelievable what happened,'” Trump said of Netanyahu’s call before moving on to criticize President Joe Biden, saying the Israeli prime minister “doesn’t wouldn’t listen to Biden.
