PITTSFIELD, Mass. –
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris used her first fundraiser since becoming the Democrats’ likely White House nominee to excoriate Republican nominee Donald Trump as determined to roll back Americans’ freedoms.
Harris travelled to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Saturday where she was expected to raise more than US$1.4 million, her campaign announced, from an expected audience of about 800 people at the Colonial Theatre. That would be US$1 million-plus more than the original goal set for the event before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
She told an excited group of supporters that she entered the race as an “underdog,” while expressing confidence that her surging campaign could defeat Trump.
“I will fight to move our nation forward,” Harris said. “Donald Trump intends to take our country backwards.”
Supporters for the fundraiser at the Colonia Theater included musician James Taylor and many of the state’s Democratic heavyweights, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, former Gov. Deval Patrick and Rep. Richie Neal.
Harris took in more than US$100 million in donations in the first 48 hours after Biden quit the race, a presidential record, and aides said she has continued to raise money at a steady clip.
“This is a people-powered campaign,” Harris said. “And we have momentum.”
Harris, a former prosecutor in her home state of California, also derided Trump for his legal troubles. She noted his recent conviction on 34 counts of fraud in New York, a jury finding the former president of being liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, and a $25 million settlement paid to attendees of the now-defunct real estate seminar called Trump University.
“I’ve been dealing with people like him my entire career,” Harris said. She added, “So in this campaign, and I say in all seriousness, I will proudly put my record against his any day.”
Harris began her remarks with praise for Biden, who opted to end his reelection bid and endorse Harris last weekend after his campaign fell into a tailspin following his disastrous June 27 debate performance against Trump.
She called Biden’s legacy of accomplishment over the past three and a half years “unmatched in modern history.”
Trump at a campaign event in Florida on Friday called Harris the worst vice president in U.S. history. He said that if elected she would be a poor steward of the economy and would govern as a “radical liberal” who would fill the federal court systems with “far-left judges” and “impose crazy San Francisco liberal values on Americans nationwide.”
The vice president told supporters that her economic agenda would sharply contrast with Trump’s, who she claimed is squarely focused on lowering tax rates for wealthy Americans and improving the bottom lines of corporations.
“Building up the middle class will be the defining goal of my presidency,” Harris said. She added, “Let us make no mistake, this campaign is not just about us versus Donald Trump. Our campaign has always been about two very different visions for our nation.”