First Lady Jill Biden championed reproductive freedom at a Harris-Walz campaign event in Cary on Oct. 25, 2024. (Christine Zhu/NC Newsline)
CARY — First Lady Jill Biden championed reproductive freedom at a Harris-Walz campaign event in Cary on Friday afternoon.
It’s the latest in a series of increasingly frequent trips to the Tar Heel State by presidential candidates and their surrogates.
Addressing an audience of about 100 people at Chatham Station, Biden highlighted the monumental significance of this election.
“We have to meet this moment as if our rights are at stake, because they are, as if our freedoms are on the line, because they are,” Biden said, with the crowd chanting “because they are” in unison.
She reminded attendees of how they felt waking up the morning after the 2016 election, urging voters to prevent it from happening again.
Biden condemned the Trump-Vance campaign’s opposition to abortion, reproductive freedom, and in vitro fertilization.
Former President Donald Trump handpicked the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and removed the constitutional right to abortion, leaving decisions up to the states.
North Carolina bans abortion after 12 weeks, though some conservative lawmakers have voiced support for a six-week abortion ban.
“There’s only one candidate in this race who will protect women’s rights, and that’s Kamala Harris, who would proudly sign a national law to restore reproductive freedom to every woman in every state of our country,” she said.
In addition to addressing healthcare and grocery prices, Biden shared a more emotional anecdote about Harris.
The two women have gotten to know each other well over the past few years, Biden told the audience.
“One of the things we bonded over was how we lost our mothers, both to cancer, both long before we were done needing them,” she said.
A handful of voters could decide the future of the nation
Violet Kopp, field organizer for the North Carolina Coordinated Campaign, introduced Biden to the audience.
“The rest of the country is counting on us here in North Carolina to have a handful of conversations that will lead to a handful of voters going to the polls, to cast votes that will change this country forever,” Kopp said.
Other speakers at the event urged attendees to vote early, knock on doors, phonebank, and encourage their community members to vote.
U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross stressed electing Democrats in down-ballot races and flipping the U.S. House.
First elected to represent North Carolina’s second congressional district in 2020, Ross was only a few days into her term during the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.
She voiced concerns about whether a Republican speaker would cooperate in certifying the results of the presidential race.
“I was there the last time, on January 6, locked in my office,” Ross said. “If we do not have a Democratic speaker… the speaker might not certify President Harris’ election.”
Jason Anderson of Raleigh has gone to a number of campaign events this election cycle.
He’s a life long fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the World Series in 2020 — the same year President Joe Biden defeated Trump.
In honor of the occasion, he ordered a custom Dodgers jersey, with the hopes that his team repeats their World Series win and Harris triumphs over the Republican.
Jason Anderson of Raleigh ordered a custom jersey after the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series and Joe Biden won the presidential election in 2020. (Christine Zhu/NC Newsline)
“I’m shocked, amazed and disgusted that somebody like Trump can be a series contender,” Anderson quipped.
First Lady joins Helene recovery effort
Earlier in the day, Biden visited two World Central Kitchens in Asheville with Gov. Roy Cooper. She met with volunteers and helped serve food to North Carolina survivors of Hurricane Helene.
Dr. Biden also stopped at a veterans and military families canvass launch for the Harris-Walz campaign in Fayetteville before heading to the Triangle.
With 11 days left until the election, it’s been a busy week for political campaigns in North Carolina.
The First Lady’s visit, along with former President Barack Obama’s event in Charlotte on Friday, close out the week in the Tar Heel State for the Democratic presidential ticket. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff made stops in Cary and Carrboro on Tuesday, and vice presidential nominee Tim Walz hit Durham, Greenville, and Wilmington on Thursday.
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance was also in North Carolina on Friday, holding events in Raeford and Monroe. Trump appeared in Swannanoa, Concord, Greenville, and Greensboro earlier in the week.