Vice President Kamala Harris and her team are more than prepared to deal with her opponent declaring victory in the presidential election before all ballots are counted, as she said herself in the latest NBC News. After all, we are dealing with Donald Trump!
The latest interview between Harris and Hallie Jackson was recorded in the US Naval Observatory. The Democratic US presidential nominee answered a few questions about President Joe Biden’s poor debate performance before dropping out of the race, whether she would pardon former president Trump, and the wide significance of her candidacy as a woman. Today, we will debate some of the most relevant moments from the interview.
A tense exchange over Biden’s poor debate
First things first, Ms Jackson asked Harris if she was honest about Biden when she decided to endorse his re-election bid. “You never saw anything like what happened at the debate night behind closed doors with him?” Harris was asked.
She responded that it was, indeed, a bad debate, but that sometimes people have bad debates, referring to the face-off between Trump and Biden back in June. Ms Jackson followed up by saying that Biden’s poor debate performance was the main reason Harris is now the Democratic nominee.
Kamala Harris advised that the best thing is to ask Biden himself if that’s the only reason why he decided to back down. “I am running for president of the United States, and Joe Biden is not. My presidency will revolve around bringing a new generation of leadership to America.”
She then vouched for the president’s political achievements and leadership. “I speak with not only sincerity but with a true, first-hand account of watching him do his job. I have no reluctance to say that.”
Harris’s plan if Trump prematurely declares himself the winner
Ms. Jackso proceeded to discuss with Harris what needs to be done if her Republican opponent declares himself the winner in the presidential race before all votes are counted. Harris decided to have a very mature approach, explaining that they would deal with election night and the days after as they come, and they would have all the needed resources and expertise to deal with that efficiently.
Only a few hours after election day in 2020, Trump falsely declared himself the winner in the race against Joe Biden, as votes were still counted. The election wasn’t decided until days later. For now, he faces plenty of allegations that he pressured officials to reverse the 2020 results, and also knowingly spread lies about election fraud.
She was asked if she and her team had thought about a similar scenario on election day next month, to which she answered yes.
Would Harris pardon Trump?
Ms. Jackson asked Harris if she would consider pardoning Trump if she became president. “I don’t want to get into this type of hypothetical. I am focused on the next 14 days” she said.
The interviewer proceeded to ask if Harris thinks that pardoning the former president would help unify the country in any way, to which he replied: “Let me tell you what’s going to help us move on: if I get elected as president of the United States.”
Is the country ready to have a woman president?
Harris was also asked whether she thinks that the United States is really ready for a woman of color to be its next president. “Absolutely,” she said, without zero hesitation. She also added that part of what’s really important in this election is not only to turn the page but also to close it and the chapter on an era that suggests America is in fact a divided country.
Ms. Jackson proceeded to ask Harris why she has been reluctant in the past to lean into talking about the historic nature of her candidacy on the campaign trail. Harris would be the first female president the United States ever had. “I am obviously a woman.
The point that most people truly care about is if you can do the job and if you have a plan to actually focus on them” she explained. When she was asked if she’s deeply concerned about sexism, Harris stated that she doesn’t view her candidacy like that.
Two weeks down until Election Day, Kamala Harris’ top advisers are looking at the numbers that show a wide majority of Americans saying the country is on the wrong track. They’re also widely confident that the next two weeks could include Donald Trump dropping more references to the “enemy within” or January 6 as a “day of love.”
Getting Americans to concentrate on what’s to come in the following weeks, to see a second Trump term as making things even worse than they are now, and viewing Harris as an acceptable agent of change is what will most likely decide the presidency, as allies told CNN.
Since Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon declared to top donors in Philadelphia during a retreat last week, they might have a hard time believing that the race could still be tied, but in all the battleground states where the presidency can be won, it is.
“From a historical point of view, it would be a bit unusual to have seven states come down to a point or less,” as David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager declared. “However, at this point, you need to assume that’s a distinct option.”
Plouffe and all the other advisers Harris works with don’t believe in Trump’s largely outsourced doo-knocking, nor in the fact that all the other on-the-ground outreach operations could match the work of national Democrats and the Harris campaign.
However, they do think that this advantage can only take them so far. “Democrats really wish Donald Trump won’t get more than 46% of the vote” as Plouffe added, referring to the well-known national popular vote percentage the former president managed to secure in his other campaigns.
However, in the battleground states, “that’s not feasible. He will get up to 48% in all those states. So we just need to make sure we are hitting our win number, which can depend on the state. It could be 50, it could be 49.5.”
Plouffe and other Harris aides still believe that the vice president has still plenty of room to grow. In order to get there, the campaign is finalizing its marquee, attention-grabbing events with Harris in the spotlight, and a series of other symbolic backdrops meant to send a specific message.
More targeted messaging
As Harris’s aides are still on a frantic chase to find disengaged voters, the wide majority of that outreach will come in the form of campaign tactics that are quite new to presidential campaigns, some of them relying on new technology.
Campaign aides also think they can make a difference via the surrogates they lined up, whether in the form of celebrities making targeted social media appearances or community members sending straightforward messages like the attendees at a Doug Emhoff event in Southfield, Michigan.
Extensive plans for the final two weeks
Minimum one closing event is expected to bring Harris and running mate Tim Walz back together, especially since the Minnesota governor is expected to be deployed in certain rural areas and among men.
If you found this article insightful, we also recommend checking: 8 Things Harris Promised So Far in Her Campaign
