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Kamala Harris keynotes APIAVote Presidential Town Hall
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was also invited to attend, but instead attended a rally at which he survived an assassination attempt.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the 2024 APIAVote Presidential Town Hall July 13 in Philadelphia. / (YouTube screen grab)
Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a fiery keynote address at the APIAVote Presidential Town Hall July 13 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.
Many are eyeing Harris to head the ticket, should President Joe Biden choose to step down amid numerous calls from members of Congress, the media, and high profile donors, after a disastrous debate performance on June 27. Rep. Judy Chu, D-California and chair of the powerful Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus introduced Harris by championing her breaking several barriers as the nation’s first South Asian, Black, and female vice president.
In her onstage remarks to the packed auditorium, Harris lambasted Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who formerly served as US president. “This is the most existential, consequential election of our lifetime.”
Trump had been invited to attend the event in person, or to send a surrogate. His campaign did neither, choosing instead to hold a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, at which he was shot in the right ear. The incident is being investigated as an assassination attempt, according to The Associated Press.The suspect was killed, and two other attendees are in critical condition. Trump has said he is okay.
President Joe Biden issued a statement after the shooting. "There's no place in America for this kind of violence. It's sick. You cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot condone this,” he said.
“Trump tried over 60 times to end the Affordable Care Act. Think about your aging parents and grandparents, children with asthma. Healthcare is a right, and not just a privilege for those who can afford it,” she said.
Harris took aim at “Project 2025,” a 900 page blueprint for Trump’s next term in office, created by the Heritage Foundation. The document calls for mass deportations, restructuring the Justice Department to give Trump more control, cutting several federal agencies, including the Department of Education, and slashing funding for climate change initiatives. Trump has attempted to distant himself from some portions of the plan’s more extreme policies.
Harris, like many others who spoke at the afternoon Town Hall, cited Trump’s xenophobic language during the Covid-19 pandemic. The former president used terms like the “Kung Flu,” and the “Chinese virus,” blaming China for creating and spreading the illness.
“I will not repeat the vile language Trump used. But someone who invokes fear and hate should never have a chance to stand behind a presidential microphone.”
Harris briefly stopped her speech as calls for “4 more years,” rang out throughout the auditorium, initially drowning out protesters who called out “Free Palestine.” Harris allowed the latter shouts to go on for a few seconds, noting: “We’re fighting for a democracy in which all voices are heard.”
The Biden Administration’s verbal and fiscal support for Israel in the nine month Israel-Hamas war, has been a thorn in the Biden-Harris campaign. In Minnesota, which as a large population of Muslim Americans, 1 out of 5 Democrats voted uncommitted to protest Biden’s support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Harris also discussed the administration’s success in capping the cost of insulin to $35, expunging medical debt from one’s credit reports, and the administration’s track record of addressing urban inequities throughout the nation.
More than 1100 people attended the event in person. Approximately 108 elected officials attended the event, including Chu, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-California, predicted by many to serve as the next House speaker, and Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii.
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