Vice President Kamala Harris addresses the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at the Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Museum in Portage on July 17, 2024. | Lucy Valeski
As the battle for Michigan voters’ attention rages in the presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris visited Portage on Wednesday to reiterate to Michiganders that President Joe Biden is the only candidate in the race that will protect contraception, abortion or IVF.
“I think that most of us agree that we shouldn’t allow supposed leaders to … do things that hurt people,” Harris said at the Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Museum in West Michigan. “In the midst of those who are trying to take individual freedoms … this is not the time to throw up our hands; this is a time to roll up our sleeves.”
This is Harris’ fourth visit to Michigan this year, as she most recently campaigned in Detroit in June. Biden’s visit to Detroit last week marked his fourth visit this year, as well, and it followed widespread calls within the Democratic Party for him to step down from the race.
Harris would be a frontrunner to replace Biden if he steps off the ticket, though Biden hasn’t given indication that he’ll drop any time soon, promising supporters in Detroit Friday he would stay in the race. Biden did reaffirm during a press conference last Thursday that Harris would be capable of taking over the presidency if necessary.
Trump pick of J.D. Vance as running mate opens new battlefront in presidential race
Harris’ visit coincides with the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, where former President Donald Trump officially became the Republican nominee Monday and named U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate. Trump surprised the RNC crowd on Monday with an in-person appearance, two days after there was an assassination attempt against him at his rally in Pennsylvania. Trump and Vance are scheduled to stump in Grand Rapids on Saturday.
The shooting was a horrible act of cowardice, Harris said. Unity and mindful engagement with others is needed now more than ever as the nation is marked by this act of political violence.
“The hallmark of American democracy, the hallmark of any democracy is a strong competition of ideas, policies, and vision for the future. And just as we must reject political violence, we must also embrace a robust discussion about what is at stake in this election,” Harris said.
Speakers identified abortion rights and other reproductive health care as being in danger under a second Trump presidency. U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) said Vance, who Harris may debate as the campaign progresses, wants a national abortion ban, without exceptions.
“And I have to tell you, now that Donald Trump has selected Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate, there’s a clone right there for him,” Stabenow said.
Stabenow criticized her Senate colleague further, pointing out his views on social security, no-fault divorce, reproductive rights and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. She encouraged support for Biden and Harris, saying “our entire way of life” is on the ballot this November.
Reproductive rights are in peril, Harris said, adding that autonomy of personal medical decisions is foundational and critical to protect.
Trump has said he’s proud to be the person responsible for the overturning Roe v. Wade, which established the federal right to an abortion. He also has said that abortion access should be determined by state governments.
Voters aren’t going to be easily gaslit by Trump, Harris said. Pushing “state’s rights” as the driver behind a state by state approach to limiting access to abortion and contraception hurts women and families, putting them in dangerous situations as they navigate reproductive health care decisions.
Trump can deny he wants to ban abortion on a federal level or limit access to reproductive health care, said Olivia Troye, a former national security advisor for the Trump administration, but his plan is clear.
Trump has denied having any connection to “Project 2025,” a right-wing presidential transition plan created by the Heritage Foundation, which outlines plans to ban abortion, dismantle the Department of Education, elimination of gender and sexual orientation language from federal law, amongst other changes.
However, a review from CNN found 140 former members of the Trump administration, including six former cabinet members, had contributed to Project 2025’s more than 900-page “Mandate for Leadership.”
“I’m here because I refuse to stay silent,” Troye said. “If you don’t believe this is real and that they can do it, I can tell you when I was in the Trump administration I saw a draft of one of these executive orders.”
Silence is not an option and the outcome of the election hinges on people connecting with their communities and encouraging people to make their voices heard on Election Day, for themselves and for the people they care about.
“Let’s remind people about the connection between their lives and their vote, between their power and the outcome of this election,” Harris said.
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