BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — As Democrats gear up for the long haul. government shutdownformer Vice President Kamala Harris is cheering them on as she travels around the country promoting her presidential campaign memoir amid speculation about her re-run for the White House.
The 2024 Democratic nominee told The Associated Press in an interview Friday that he remains in contact with Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill and is encouraging them to maintain their request that President Donald Trump and the Republican congressional majority speak. approaching spike Affordable Care Act health insurance premiums.
“Republicans control the House, they control the Senate, they control the White House. They’re in charge, they’re responsible for the government shutdown,” she said.
“Democrats are doing the right thing by standing up for working people and not allowing Republicans to cut taxes on our nation’s richest people on the backs of working Americans,” he said.
That was just one example of how Harris took advantage of her. Book a tour We urge Democrats to lead a consistent and aggressive pushback against Trump while recommitting to reaching out to working-class and middle-class voters who backed Republicans or stayed home last November.
During the day, Harris had an hour-long conversation with five black college students in Alabama’s largest city, spoke with The Associated Press, and held two book discussions. The Alabama Theater in downtown Birmingham was packed with paying ticket holders, where Harris spoke with radio host Charlamagne the God about the campaign, the Democratic Party and the path of the country.
Through it all, Harris projected the aura of a party elder statesman and future candidate. She expressed concern about the direction of the country and complete distrust of many of President Trump’s actions. She took it positively when a VIP ticket holder told her in a photo line how disappointed they were with her loss.
“We have work to do,” she said repeatedly. “Keep fighting.”
On stage and to The Associated Press, she praised the party’s “deep and wide representation” and even called for lowering the voting age in the country to 16 to involve more young people in the political process.
Harris lets you know it’s not over yet.
Harris, 60, insisted she had not made any decisions about her political future. But she made it clear that running again in 2028 is still on the table, and that she sees herself as a player in the party and a voice in the national debate.
“I am the leader of the party,” she told The Associated Press. “I take seriously the responsibility and obligation that I feel,” he said as a former candidate. That includes “travelling around the country talking to people and mostly listening,” she said, and “preparing people to fight in the midterm elections” in 2026.
Harris’ aides confirmed that she will support Democratic gubernatorial candidates Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia with virtual events, fundraisers and robocalls. She recently headlined a fundraiser for North Carolina Senate candidate Roy Cooper, a former governor and longtime friend of Harris.
Later this month, she plans to campaign for California’s “Yes on Prop. 50.” The bill would allow for Democratic-led redrawing of state House districts to counter Republican gerrymandering in Texas and other Republican-controlled states.
Credibility is key for Democratic candidates
Harris, who was unusually candid about her opinions of various politicians in her book “107 Days,” was more circumspect Friday when asked to evaluate other leading Democrats.
“We have to get out of the idea of, ‘Who is that person?’ There are a lot of ways that I think are effective when people are honest with themselves,” she said when asked about fellow California governor Gavin Newsom and his recent mocking of Trump on social media.
She mentioned Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) and Rep. Brittany Pettersson (D-Colo.) by name, but did not elaborate. “Every voice and every perspective” could resonate with certain voters, she said.
Harris rejected the traditional political common sense she has lost due to the Republican Party’s sustained attacks on cultural and social issues, particularly transgender issues. He said the economy, particularly inflation, was a bigger factor.
“There are a significant number of people who voted for Donald Trump because they believed what he said, that he was going to lower prices,” she told The Associated Press. “Unfortunately, he lied to them.”
Economic arguments are most important
“We must do a better job of addressing the pressing needs of the American people,” Harris said, as prices remain high and the gap between rich and poor widens.
He praised the Biden administration’s legislative accomplishments, but said household-level policies like the child tax credit, family leave and first-time homebuyer credit should have taken precedence over the sweeping infrastructure plan and the CHIPS semiconductor manufacturing law.
While Harris delivered a sharper economic message, she acknowledged there are structural challenges for Democrats. false information and what she described as a conservative attack on democracy.
She rejected the idea of an “under-informed electorate,” saying the problem was actually a large amount of misinformation and disinformation that was making it difficult to reach many voters. He said Democrats must break out of these silos instead of labeling someone a lost cause.
“Their opinions deserve to be heard,” she said.
civil rights rollback
On stage, Harris described the “reversal” of the civil rights movement. She lamented that the Supreme Court could remove Section 2 of the Act. voting rights lawwhich protects political district boundaries drawn to allow minority communities to elect candidates of their choice.
Without this law, non-white representation, esp. black expression In the South, there could be significant reductions from Congress to local school boards and city councils.
“How can we say at this point that the Voting Rights Act and Title II have no purpose?” Harris told The Associated Press.
Given the venue, this issue had particular resonance. Voting Rights Act passed in 1965 After Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights leaders marched from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery. A subsequent Supreme Court case in Mobile led Congress to clarify the intent of Section 2 of the Act. And that was the Shelby County, Alabama case that the Supreme Court used in 2013 to: Meet legal requirements The U.S. Department of Justice sought to approve election procedures in local jurisdictions with documented histories of discrimination.
In addition to the pending Supreme Court case, Harris said she is following President Trump’s rhetoric on immigration, along with statements by Trump’s top adviser Stephen Miller and other Republicans suggesting that the United States owes its identity to white European settlers.
“Just from the perspective of their language, they’re racist and they’re scapegoats,” she said. But she stopped short of saying the administration is driven by white supremacist ideology. “I can’t pretend to know what’s going on in their heads.”
Harris said Friday that she never doubted former President Joe Biden’s ability to do his job. ended his reelection bid Due to concerns about his age. That’s different from the debate about whether the 82-year-old could have served another term, she explained.
Asked if she still speaks to Biden, who is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, Harris told The Associated Press: “He and I have actually been playing a game of phone tag over the last few days.” “If there is anything you are doing for his happiness and health right now, please pray for him too.”
