Vice President Harris on Monday offered a preview of the campaign to come against former President Trump as she closes in on becoming the new Democratic nominee for president.
Harris traveled to Wilmington, Del., to meet with campaign staff as she assumes control of the Biden campaign after the president announced Sunday he would not seek reelection and endorsed Harris as the new nominee. The vice president fired up staff, showered praise on Biden and provided a glimpse of how she will likely go after Trump on the campaign trail.
The vice president noted that before her time in Washington, D.C., she worked as a prosecutor in California, where she “took on perpetrators of all kinds.” The remark drew laughs and cheers from staff in the room as Harris took a lengthy pause.
“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. And in this campaign I will proudly — I will proudly — put my record against his,” she said.
Harris and her team are likely to emphasize the contrast between her work as a prosecutor and Trump’s lengthy record of legal troubles. He has been ordered to pay millions of dollars in civil court over his business practices; a jury found him liable of sexual abuse; and a jury found him guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan.
“All of that being said, this campaign is not just about us versus Donald Trump,” she said. “There is more to this campaign than that. Our campaign has always been about two different versions of what we see as the future of our country.”
Harris echoed many of the same themes Biden used in his campaign, warning Trump would take the country backward by reducing rights for some Americans and would hurt the middle class by prioritizing tax breaks for corporations and wealthy Americans.
And the vice president vowed to fight for reproductive freedom and claimed Trump would sign a national abortion if he is elected, something he has said he would not do.
Trump’s team has attacked Harris by tying her to Biden’s record on inflation and immigration and by arguing her California roots make her too liberal to lead the nation.
Harris’s appearance in Delaware, where she was joined by second gentleman Doug Emhoff, came roughly 28 hours after Biden announced on social media he would not seek reelection amid growing pressure from Democrats for him to step aside as the nominee. He endorsed Harris as his replacement shortly after.
Democrats have almost universally lined up to back Harris as the next nominee, including a host of governors who were considered potential rivals.
Harris said Monday she would retain the same campaign leadership as Biden moving forward. Jen O’Malley Dillon, who ran Biden’s 2020 campaign as well, will stay on to run Harris’s campaign. Julie Chavez Rodriguez will continue to serve as campaign manager.
“In the next 106 days we have work to do,” Harris said. “We have doors to knock on, we have people to talk to, we have calls to make, and we have an election to win.”
