‘Attack on our children, families, future’: Harris warns black women that Trump is a threat

WASHINGTON – US Vice-President Kamala Harris appealed on July 24 to the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting bloc, black women, telling an audience of several thousand in Indianapolis that former president Donald Trump’s agenda represented “an outright attack on our children, our families and our future”.

Ms Harris’ pointed speech, delivered at a convention of Zeta Phi Beta, one of the nation’s most prominent black sororities, laid out a “choice between two different visions for our nation”.

One vision – hers – would build on what she described as the Biden administration’s biggest accomplishments: Expanding access to healthcare, lowering the cost of prescription drugs such as insulin, reducing child poverty and creating an economy that “works for working people”.

The other, she warned, would return the United States to a “dark past”, with cuts to Medicare and the elimination of the US Department of Education and popular programmes such as Head Start.

“These extremists want to take us back, but we are not going back. We are not going back,” Ms Harris, a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, said again with emphasis, in a banquet hall filled almost exclusively by black women.

“Ours is a fight for the future, and ours is a fight for freedom.”

Although the US Vice-President barely mentioned Trump by name, her speech was a clear effort to do what Democrats had hoped for months that US President Joe Biden would be able to: Make the election a referendum on the former US president.

Repeatedly, Ms Harris, 59, articulated the idea that

the choice between herself and Trump, 78,

amounted to one between the “future” and the “past”.

If she is to rejuvenate the Democratic coalition that powered her and Mr Biden to the White House in 2020, Ms Harris must inspire audiences like the one she faced on July 24.

Black voters are a key Democratic constituency, but their enthusiasm for Mr Biden had fallen drastically during his term.

Many black voters have expressed dissatisfaction with such challenges as rising prices, and Trump has tried to take advantage of that.

Now, black sororities and fraternities, with more than two million members nationwide, can offer Ms Harris a ready-made coalition with which to fight back.

Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Trump launched a volley of attacks against Ms Harris on July 24, calling her a “radical left lunatic” in his first rally since she became

the de facto Democratic presidential nominee

for November’s election.

In a speech claiming she was in favour of the “execution” of babies due to her stance on abortion, the former US president said: “She is a radical left lunatic who will destroy our country.”

“We’re not going to let that happen,” he told the crowd in North Carolina.

Trump’s speech comes as Ms Harris hits the campaign trail armed with Mr Biden’s endorsement – after his historic decision at the weekend

not to seek re-election

.

Trump had repeatedly attacked Mr Biden, who is 81, over his age but has been forced to pivot as he has now become

the oldest nominee in history.

Trump called Ms Harris “the ultra liberal driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe”.

He claimed that she wanted “abortions in the eighth and ninth month of pregnancy” as well as “right up until birth and even after birth, the execution of a baby”.

Saying Democratic Party bosses were behind Mr Biden’s decision to step down, he accused Ms Harris of covering up his “mental unfitness”.

Earlier on July 24, the White House denied it had covered up any possible decline in Mr Biden’s health prior to his decision to drop out of the election race.

Ms Harris’ candidacy has stirred enthusiasm among Democrats after weeks of turmoil over Mr Biden, who came under pressure following a disastrous debate performance against Trump in June. NYTIMES, AFP