Democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Vice President Kamala Harris challenged former President Donald Trump on Sunday for refusing to do what she has done in recent days: release a report on his health, sit for a 60 Minutes interview and commit to another presidential debate.
"It makes you wonder: Why does his staff want him to hide away?" Harris asked the crowd at a rally in a packed college basketball arena in Greenville, North Carolina. "One must question: Are they afraid that people will see that he is too weak and unstable to lead America?"
Her line of attack marked an attempt to turn the tables on Trump, who for months had suggested that President Joe Biden was too old to be president and accused him of hiding from the American people. And it underscored her efforts to present herself as the candidate of change and Trump as a relic of the past, as she forms a closing message in the final weeks of her campaign.
Harris' rally, which attracted about 7,000 people, was aimed especially at urging supporters in a presidential battleground state to cast their ballots before Election Day. Early voting begins Thursday in North Carolina. "The election is here," she said.
It was also meant to mobilize Black voters, a crucial Democratic constituency whose support for Harris is drifting, polls have found. A survey of Black likely voters from The New York Times/Siena College found that roughly 8 in 10 Black voters plan to vote for Harris -- an overwhelming majority but more than 10 points short of the support Biden had four years ago. The softening of support was especially pronounced among Black men.
Roughly 4 in 10 residents of Greenville are Black, and the city is surrounded by rural communities with significant Black populations that often say they are ignored by national campaigns. A Democratic presidential candidate has not won North Carolina since Barack Obama in 2008. A Times polling average shows Harris within 1 point of Trump in the state.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment about Harris' remarks.