Kamala Harris and Donald Trump
Credit: Reuters File Photo
Las Vegas: Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday tried to taunt former President Donald Trump into participating in another debate as she rallied supporters in Nevada.
Harris opened by previewing the vice presidential debate set for Tuesday between her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, and the Republican, Sen. J D Vance of Ohio, saying "their debate should not be the last word."
"I'm trying to debate Donald Trump again, and I think he should debate again," Harris told 7,500 supporters at an expo center in Las Vegas. "The American people have a right to hear us discuss the issues. And as you say here in Las Vegas, I'm all in. I'm all in. Even if my opponent is ready to fold."
Harris was widely seen as the winner of the only debate between her and Trump, which took place Sept. 10. But the race barely moved afterward, according to national polls. The former president has said he will not participate in another debate, even as some of his allies have urged him to reconsider. Harris said earlier that she had agreed to a second debate hosted by CNN on Oct. 23.
Her remarks Sunday came in the battleground state of Nevada, where the election remains a virtual dead heat, with Harris leading Trump by 1 percentage point, according to a New York Times polling average. But Nevada and the other southwestern battleground, Arizona, have become somewhat less of a priority for the Harris campaign as it focuses on the must-win "blue wall" states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The Harris campaign is spending more on television and digital advertising in those three states than in Arizona and Nevada, and she has traveled more extensively there. This week, she will again campaign in all three blue wall states.
Still, campaign officials and Harris allies say they see a path to victory through the Sun Belt states as well.
"She's focusing on where we need to get the votes out," said Daniele Monroe-Moreno, a state assembly member and the chair of Nevada's Democratic Party. "We're doing a great job here, and she knows that. We have a great team on the ground."
The rally Sunday was just Harris' second trip to Nevada since she took over the top of the Democratic ticket from President Joe Biden. In her speech, she leaned into her economic message, promising to fight "corporate price gouging" and to give tax breaks to parents of young children and first-time homebuyers. Nevada Democrats say the economy and the cost of living are hugely important issues in a state that depends on tourism.
Her trip followed a visit Friday to the southern border in Arizona, where she laid out the hardest line on immigration policy that a Democratic presidential candidate has taken in decades.
In Las Vegas, speaking to a crowd with many Hispanic voters, Harris did not present as tough a message on the border. Instead, she emphasized her promise to provide an "earned pathway to citizenship" for immigrants living in the United States without legal permission.
Before Harris spoke, the crowd chanted "Sí se puede," the United Farm Workers' slogan that was adopted by Barack Obama's campaign in 2008. Hispanic voters make up nearly 20 per cent of the electorate in Nevada, according to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Harris is doing better with Hispanic voters than Biden was before he dropped out, but her support -- especially among men -- still lags behind Democrats in previous cycles. Polls also show Black men are backing her at lower levels.
Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada addressed that gap when he warmed up the crowd in Las Vegas.
"Black men and Latino men, we have a stake in this election, too," Horsford said, adding that Trump would threaten their access to health care, education and good jobs while stripping the women in their lives of abortion rights. "Don't let them pit men against women, Blacks against Latinos, whites against Blacks. We're in this together."
Earlier in the day, Harris spoke at a fundraiser in Los Angeles, where attendees included Stevie Wonder, Jessica Alba and Demi Lovato, and Alanis Morissette performed for the crowd.
The Harris campaign said it had raised $28 million in Los Angeles -- making it her most lucrative finance event of the election -- and $27 million at a fundraiser the previous day in San Francisco. They are the last fundraisers where she is scheduled to appear before Election Day.
Although she vowed to beat Trump, Harris acknowledged in Los Angeles that the race was ultracompetitive.
"We are the underdog, friends," she said. "And I'm running like the underdog."