More than 3,000 people attended the Milwaukee event, where the presumptive nominee railed against Trump to an elated crowd.
Vice-President Kamala Harris kicked off her presidential campaign on Tuesday, holding her first official rally in front of an enthusiastic crowd in the key battleground state of Wisconsin.
“The path to the White House runs through Wisconsin,” Harris told the more-than-3,000 attendees at Milwaukee’s West Allis Central High School.
The event had been scheduled prior to President Joe Biden’s bombshell announcement that he would be dropping his reelection bid and backing Harris as his replacement, prompting a last-minute change to a larger venue as RSVPs poured in from people eager to see Harris, per campaign officials.
When you read Donald Trump’s 2025 agenda, you will see he intends to cut Social Security and Medicare, give tax breaks to billionaires, end the Affordable Care Act, and more.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 23, 2024
We are not going back.pic.twitter.com/tRPmq7kYcR
Harris’s stump speech echoed the remarks she gave to her campaign staff on Monday, highlighting the strong contrast between her and her Republican opponent, Donald Trump. She began by noting her past work as California’s attorney general and as a prosecutor, positions that she said have prepared her for a matchup with the former president.
“In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds: predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type,” she said to loud applause and chants of “KA-MA-LA.”
She continued, “And in this campaign, I promise you, I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week.”
Harris positioned the November election as a choice between the past and the future, vowing progress on several Democratic goals that have long been stalled in the U.S. Congress, including an assault-weapons ban and universal background checks. She also mentioned abortion, a key issue this cycle, promising to sign a bill enshrining reproductive protections into law if elected.
The vice-president also name-checked the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 proposal, which Trump has sought to distance himself from, and urged listeners to read it for themselves, at one point quipping, “Can you believe that they put that thing in writing?” The push to tie Trump to the policy, an effort which began when Biden was leading the ticket, has reportedly been effective with polls showing that more American voters are aware of Project 2025 and hold negative opinions about it. “America has tried these failed economic policies before, but we are not going back,” she said.
Harris’s remarks come as Biden is set to give a prime-time address on Wednesday evening, during which he is expected to explain his decision to leave the ticket and pass the torch to the vice-president. Harris ended her speech with a refrain that felt reminiscent of Biden, who often framed the race between their campaign and Trump’s as the “battle for the soul of America.”
“Ultimately in this election, we face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in? Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion, and the rule of law or a country of chaos, fear, and hate?” she asked. “Here is the beauty of this moment: We each have the power to answer that question. The power is with the people.”
