Kamala Harris campaigns in Arizona while Trump is in Montana

Kamala Harris campaigns in Arizona while Trump is in Montana/Reuter

Reuters | August 10, 2024 | 09:12 AM IST | Breaking News, Politics, United States of America, World | Follow on Google News

Kamala Harris campaigns in Arizona while Trump is in Montana

Kamala Harris campaigns in Arizona while Trump is in Montana

GLENDALE, Arizona, Aug 9 (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned in Arizona on Friday, hoping her less-than-one-month-old bid for the White House can put Republican candidate Donald Trump on the back foot in the West.

The Democratic presidential candidate has been on a week-long tour after naming her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, with a focus on building excitement for her campaign in seven states that could tip the Nov. 5 election.

That tour brought her to the Phoenix area on Friday, where she was visiting with volunteers at a campaign office and speaking to voters.

While traveling, Harris won the endorsement of LULAC Adelante, the political action committee for the nation’s oldest Latino civil rights organization. It was the group’s first-ever presidential endorsement.

Trump was in the West too, holding a rally in Bozeman, Montana, a state that Republicans have carried in every presidential race since 1996.

The state will host a competitive race this year that could decide which party controls the U.S. Senate in 2025.

Trump’s flight was reportedly diverted to a different Montana airport due to a mechanical issue.

“I just landed in a really beautiful place: Montana,” Trump said in a video from his plane posted on social media, which made no mention of a mechanical issue.

“I’m here to do some fundraisers and most importantly to support Tim Sheehy who’s running for the U.S. Senate and we think he’s going to do really well. We’re going to have a rally. And it’ll be a lot of fun.”

Sheehy will be facing Democratic Senator John Tester, who is seeking a fourth term.

CROWD SIZES

In Phoenix, a crowd estimated at more than 15,000 greeted Harris, including some pro-Palestinian demonstrators who interrupted the remarks. Harris has faced anger from liberal voters who disagree with her support for Israel in its response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

“The president and I are working around the clock every day to get that ceasefire deal done and bring the hostages home,” Harris said in her remarks, adding: “So, I respect your voices, but we are here to now talk about the race in 2024.”

Earlier in the week when some protested during her rally in Michigan and interrupted her speech, she had said: “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”

Trump had on Thursday mocked the size of Harris’ campaign crowds, even though they have matched his of late.

He falsely compared the size of the gathering on Jan. 6, 2021 – the day his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol – to that who heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963 in Washington.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by VoM News staff and is published from syndicated feed)

Reuters