BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) – Kamala Harris returned to Michigan on Saturday for a rally with former first lady Michelle Obama, a move she said was aimed at increasing voter turnout among Democrats. It’s the latest in a series of high-profile pairings for the campaign.
Watch the event live in the player above.
She plans to stop by a Portage clinic to speak with health care providers and medical students before the rally, and her remarks later in the day are expected to focus on the fight for abortion rights.
“We are witnessing a health care crisis in America that is impacting people of all backgrounds and genders,” Harris told reporters after landing at the airport in Battle Creek, Michigan.
WATCH: Biden speaks at North American Federation of Labor voting event
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden visited a union hall in Pittsburgh to tout Harris’ support for organized labor, telling the audience to “follow your gut” and “do the right thing.”
Harris appeared in Houston with Beyoncé on Friday and campaigned in Atlanta with former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen on Thursday.
That’s a level of celebrity influence that exceeds what Republican candidate Donald Trump was able to garner this year. But there’s no guarantee it will help Harris in a close race for the White House. In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost to Trump despite electrifying the audience with her musical performance and Democratic allies.
Mr. Trump dismissed Ms. Harris’ attempts to use star power in her campaign.
“Kamala is at a dance party with Beyoncé,” the former president said Friday in Traverse City, Michigan. Republican presidential candidate Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in the Detroit suburb of Novi on Saturday, followed by an event in State College, Pennsylvania.
Harris and Michelle Obama will be staying in Kalamazoo, in the southwest part of the state. This will be the first time a former first lady will follow in Harris’ footsteps.
This day also marks the first day that early voting will be available across Michigan. More than 1.4 million ballots have already been submitted, representing 20% of registered voters.
When Clinton was running against Trump, Michelle Obama encouraged Democrats with the slogan, “When Democrats go low, we go high.”
But this year, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, she took a more caustic approach. She accused President Trump of “piling on ugly, misogynistic, racist lies instead of real ideas and solutions that actually improve people’s lives.”
Biden traveled to Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon for a campaign event with the North American Workers International Federation.
“She has the backbone of a ramrod,” he said, noting that she once walked picket lines with the United Auto Workers union while President Trump undermined organized labor. Ta.
“I think unions are an impediment to the accumulation of personal wealth,” Biden said. “More than any other race we’ve been in, it’s in Labor’s interest to defeat Donald Trump.”
Biden’s remarks to a mostly male audience addressed the gender disparity that has been a consistent feature of this year’s presidential race.
“Let me be clear: He is a loser as a man,” Biden said of Trump.
She also said women should be given more opportunities than ever before.
“They can do anything any human being can do, including become president of the United States,” Biden said.
Mr. Madani reported from Pittsburgh and Mr. Megerian from Washington.
