Campaigning in Philadelphia on Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris described the stark choices voters face in the presidential election, inviting them to imagine either her in the Oval Office or her opponent, Donald Trump, “rotating on the enemies list.”
Speaking to reporters after speaking at a Black church in West Philadelphia, Harris repeated his recent argument that the election is a binary choice between two candidates with very different conceptions of the powers and responsibilities of the presidency.
“Imagine the Oval Office on January 20,” he said, referring to the date of the inauguration of the next president. “It will be one of two people. It will either be Donald Trump or me.”
If voters elect Trump, they will get a president “full of grievances,” he added. “It is full of dark language about vengeance and revenge. So the American people have a choice. Either that or I’ll be there, focused on my to-do list.”
Harris is spending most of the day campaigning in Philadelphia, the largest Democratic stronghold in a critical Pennsylvania battleground state that could decide the presidential election.
He visited a barbershop in West Philadelphia to speak to a group of young Black men, a constituency in which his campaign continues. works hard to provide energy. Later in the day, he will stop at a local bookstore, a Puerto Rican restaurant, and later attend a community rally at a youth basketball facility.
At Barber, he talked about the importance of Black teachers in classrooms.
“You know, statistically, if a black kid has a black teacher, they’re 13% more likely to go to college by the end of third grade,” Harris said. “By third grade, they are 30% more likely to have two Black teachers.”
The trip is his 14th trip to Pennsylvania since entering the race in July and coincides with a day. mass voting operation that he launched his campaign.
With 19 electoral votes, Pennsylvania is a must-win proposition for Harris’ campaign. Along with Michigan and Wisconsin, the state is part of the “blue wall” that Democrats traditionally rely on to reach the magic number of 270 electoral votes. Trump won the state in 2016 against Hillary Clinton, but lost it to Joe Biden four years later.
“Philadelphia is a very important part of our road to victory and the reason I’m here and the reason I’m here,” Harris told reporters.
Nnamdi Egwuonwu contributed.