During her third consecutive appearance at the annual Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans, Vice President Kamala Harris attempted to rally the audience. She called the upcoming election “probably the most significant of our lifetime” and cautioned against the potential return of Donald Trump to the presidency, although she refrained from directly naming him.
“On one side, you have the former president who is running to become president again, who has openly talked about his admiration of dictators and his intention to be a dictator on day one, who has openly talked about his intention to reorganize the Department of Justice against his political enemies and who has talked about being proud of taking from the women of America the most fundamental decision of their own lives” Harris asserted, referring to Trump’s stance on abortion.
TONE DEAF: Kamala claims this will be “the most significant election of our lifetime” because one side might “weaponize the Department of Justice against his political enemies” pic.twitter.com/XyGpJU3uak [1]
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 6, 2024 [2]
CEO of Essence, Caroline Wanga, engaged in a 25-minute conversation with Harris at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, but notably avoided addressing Biden’s lackluster debate performance or questioning Harris about her support for his continued candidacy. Despite mounting pressure spurred by Biden’s debate showing, Harris has been steadfast in proclaiming Biden will lead the Democratic ticket.
The vice president’s visit to New Orleans comes against a backdrop of increased scrutiny following Biden’s debate struggles, which have sparked growing demands for him to withdraw from the race. In the event of such an occurrence, Harris would swiftly emerge as a leading contender to replace him as the Democratic nominee in the campaign against Trump.
On Thursday, Trump introduced the moniker [3] “Laffin’ Harris” to mock the vice president’s distinctive laughter, further reflecting the political tension between the two camps.
This is it. The best one ever. Full stop. pic.twitter.com/LSFh0FILFj [4]
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) July 4, 2024 [5]
Amidst a consistent downward slope in her national popularity over the past two years, Harris currently holds an approval rating of 37% and a disapproval rating of 51%, according to fivethirtyeight.com. [6]
