Harris says she's ready if Trump tries to prematurely declare victory,
isn't worried about sexism
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[October 23, 2024]
By COLLEEN LONG and ZEKE MILLER
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday that her
team is prepared to challenge Donald Trump if he tries to prematurely
declare victory in the 2024 election — but she's first focused on
beating the Republican nominee.
Harris spoke to NBC News just two weeks before Election Day, as part of
a media blitz meant to deliver her closing argument before as many
persuadable voters as possible. She said she was not concerned about the
role sexism could play in the election, as she stands to be the first
woman elected to the White House, and again defended President Joe
Biden's fitness for office.
Harris said the Democrats “have the resources and the expertise” should
Trump try to subvert the election.
“This is a person, Donald Trump, who tried to undo the — a free and fair
election, who still denies the will of the people, who incited a violent
mob to attack the United States Capitol and some 140 law enforcement
officers were attacked. Some — were killed. This is a very serious
matter,” she said.
Trump has been criminally charged with trying to overturn the 2020
election, and refuses to admit he lost to President Joe Biden. After a
failed legal effort to overturn the results, a mob of Trump supporters
rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, attacking law enforcement in
an effort to stop the certification of the race.
At Harris' rallies, some of her supporters chant “Lock him up,”
something Trump often said about his former Democratic rival, Hillary
Clinton. Harris often replies: “The courts will take care of that. We'll
take care of November.”
At a campaign stop Tuesday, Biden said, “We’ve got to lock him up," but
Biden quickly added: “Politically lock him up. Lock him out, that’s what
we have to do.”
“No president has ever been like this guy,” Biden said. “He’s a genuine
threat to our democracy.”
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President Kamala Harris speaks during a town hall at Sharon Lynne
Wilson Center for the Arts in Brookfield, Wisc., Monday, Oct. 21,
2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Speaking to supporters Tuesday, Trump criticized Harris for spending
the day conducting interviews, appearing to try to sow distrust in
the election. “She knows something that we don’t know,” he said. “I
think she knows some kind of result that we don’t know.”
While partisan battles over voting rules have long been part of
presidential campaigns, election litigation has soared in recent
years. With money pouring in for legal fights and the number of
outside groups involved in election litigation proliferating, the
disputes are not likely slow down anytime soon.
Harris told NBC that she’s not focused on pointing out the historic
nature of her candidacy, saying, “I’m clearly a woman, I don’t need
to point that out to anyone.”
She added that she’s not worried about sexism harming her candidacy,
saying she’s focused on speaking to all voters.
“I will never assume that anyone in our country should elect a
leader based on their gender or their race, instead that that leader
needs to earn the vote based on substance and what they will do to
address challenges and to inspire people,” she said.
The vice president also defended Biden, whose disastrous debate
against Trump forced him to abandon his reelection campaign and
cleared the way for her to become the Democratic nominee for
president.
Harris said she still believes Biden is “capable in every way” to be
president, saying “you’d have to ask him if that’s the only reason
why” he dropped out of the race, but she has “no reluctance” in
saying he’s up for the job.
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