Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the Bradbury residence of a major Democratic donor. Here's what she said.
Vice President Kamala Harris swooped into the San Gabriel Valley on Wednesday night, June 26, attracting major campaign donors and supporters at a fundraising event hosted at a Bradbury mansion one day before the first presidential debate.
The coming debate, against a backdrop of a poll out Wednesday showing former President Donald Trump leading the race for the presidency in key swing states against President Joe Biden, underpinned Harris’s 12 minutes of remarks at the “Biden Victory Fund” fundraiser event.
“I will tell you the debate is going to frame the race,” Harris said, adding that Americans will be able to see a clear contrast between President Biden and Trump.
Harris said Biden spends his time thinking about the American people and how to uplift them. She mentioned working to reduce costs, creating jobs and building the middle class.
“On the other hand you have the former president who cares only about himself,” Harris said.
The event was hosted at the Bradbury home of Dr. Asif Mahmood, tucked away in an affluent gated community in the small San Gabriel Valley city.
Harris said this was at least the third time she had visited Mahmood’s home and noted that she had previously spoken from a different part of the backyard. Her podium had been placed in the shade to account for the early evening sun.
She highlighted the urgency of the coming months by pointing out that Election Day is 132 days away.
“Not a lot of time. And we are going to win,” Harris said through applause. “And we are going to win. It’s not going to be easy but we are going to win.”
Harris said she’s been thinking about the moment in the context of the promise of America.
“In this election, we will determine what kind of country we want and we will make a statement about who we are as a country,” Harris said.
During trips across the country in the last six months, mostly to swing states, Harris said she has heard people’s concern about a full-on attack on fundamental freedoms and rights. She pointed to the freedom to vote and women’s rights.
“What happened to love thy neighbor?,” Harris asked. “When we look at the attacks on the freedom of women to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do. Attacks on basic liberties.”
Bradbury, a small city at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, in Los Angeles County, is home to about 1,000 residents.
Mahmood, a Pakistani-born local physician and pulmonologist who himself ran for Congress two years ago, introduced Harris who thanked Mahmood for his years of support.
Harris, who arrived shortly before 7 p.m., stood under an outdoor awning in the backyard of the large Bradbury home. About 50 people sat poolside on white folding chairs.
Silver catering trays lined one side of the walkway around the pool and guests stood under large white umbrellas to escape the heat prior to the vice president’s arrival.
Mindful of her audience, Harris also expanded on women’s rights, noting that there were many physicians in attendance Wednesday night.
She said Trump hand-selected three members of the Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v. Wade.
“They did exactly as he intended,” Harris said, referring to the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which the Supreme Court two years ago reversed the law of the land established by Roe more than 50 years ago.
Harris closed by reiterating that much is at stake in the coming election, noting the fragility of democracy – a theme Democrats have been sounding against Trump.
“It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it,” Harris said. “And so fight we will. And fight we must. And here’s the beauty of it all, when we fight we win.”
The remarks came a day before Biden and Trump take part in the first of two presidential debates ahead of November’s election. The second is on Sept. 10.
Harris is scheduled to speak Friday at an event in Los Angeles.
Harris’s visit also follows a string of high-profile visits from the Biden and Trump camps as the November election gets closer.
California is safely a blue state in terms of electing a president. And so while it won’t be a deciding state on the electoral map, it is making a difference when it comes to campaign coffers.
Harris last visited Southern California at the end of May. The intermittent seven-day trip included an appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel Show and flights to San Diego for a fundraiser and to Seattle for political events.
Last year, Harris spoke at a fundraiser in Brentwood, where she has a home. The fundraiser raised around $500,000 for the Biden reelection campaign.
Biden and Trump recently visited Los Angeles for fundraising events.
Biden’s recent visit to L.A., headlined by an appearance at an LA Live event at the Peacock Theater was attended by about 7,000 people, and featured emcee and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel who interviewed Biden, as well as former President Barack Obama and Hollywood superstars Julia Roberts and George Clooney.
It raised $30 million as Biden spoke about the economy, abortion rights and threats to America’s democracy.
But California, and Southern California at that, has been no stranger to the Republican party nor to Trump.
The former president, and the Republican party’s presumptive nominee for the presidency, appeared at a bayfront Newport Beach mansion on June 8, with promises to defeat “crooked Joe Biden” in November.
His America First platform has included pledges to keep the nation out of foreign wars and shutting down the border.
The campaign continued to slam the Biden administration on Wednesday, while also touting massive campaign contributions, even after Trump was convicted by a New York jury that found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
“Biden is desperate to distract from the sputtering economy and open border,” read one campaign missive on Wednesday.
“The Biden Administration has a failed track record, and the American people feel it every day. Voters aren’t buying the Biden Campaign’s snake oil — and hundreds of millions in ads aren’t helping.”
Trump has not yet named his own running mate, a potential vice presidential successor to Harris. But speculation has centered around North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
