Kamala Harris attacks Trump in electrifying rally

Milwaukee, United States- AFP

An exuberant Kamala Harris whipped up a rapturous crowd Tuesday at her first rally since effectively clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, as she launched fresh attacks on Donald Trump for trying to “take the country backward.”

In a stark contrast to outgoing President Joe Biden’s often stumbling and low-energy speeches, Vice President Harris gave a punchy and enthusiastic address that was greeted with cheers at the event in the battleground state of Wisconsin.

Harris, 59, is injecting fresh hope into the Democratic party, following 81-year-old Biden’s exit from the race after a disastrous debate with Trump fueled fears about his age and mental competency.

“Donald Trump wants to take our country backward,” Harris told the crowd in Milwaukee. “Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?”

Where Biden used to target Trump as a broad threat to democracy, Harris took a more personal, targeted approach by pointing to her record as a California prosecutor who had dealt with what she said were “predators” and “fraudsters” like the former president and convicted felon.

“So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type,” she said, echoing comments she made to campaign workers on Monday. “I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week.”

The pumped-up crowd repeatedly chanted “Kam-a-la” during her speech in Milwaukee, the same city where Trump was crowned Republican nominee at his party’s conference just last week.

Trump’s campaign has been thrown into turmoil after the Biden departure, which now makes him the oldest ever US presidential candidate. But Trump insisted that Harris would be “easier” to beat in November than her boss.

Trump, who survived an assassination attempt on July 13, also told reporters he would “absolutely” take part in at least one presidential debate with Harris.

Harris — who is the first female, Black and South Asian “veep” in US history and aiming to become the country’s first woman president — took just 36 hours to secure enough delegates to be nominated after Biden’s withdrawal.

Top Democratic congressional chiefs — Senator Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries — threw their weight behind her in a press conference Tuesday.

Harris sought to demonstrate the importance of the state for November’s polls, saying “the path to the White House goes through Wisconsin,” and vowed to spend the coming weeks “continuing to unite our party so that we are ready to win in November.”

“We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity, not just to get by, but to get ahead, a future where no child has to grow up in poverty, where every worker has the freedom to join a union, where every person has affordable health care, affordable childcare and paid family leave. We believe in a future where every senior can retire with dignity. So, all of this is to say, building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency,” she said.

“We’re not going back, because ours is a fight for the future, and it is a fight for freedom. For generations, and we have to remember this, the shoulders on which we stand, generations of Americans before us led the fight for freedom, and now Wisconsin, the baton is in our hands,” she added.