Kamala Harris highlighted the threat to women's reproductive rights and Donald Trump’s apparent fatigue at a rally in south Atlanta on Saturday, as early voting sets records here in Georgia There continues to be a full court push for a vote.
The race remains close in Georgia, with polls suggesting the Republican candidate has a one-point lead in the state. Trump has appeared in Georgia multiple times and is planning a Turning Point Action rally next week in Gwinnett County, a suburb of Atlanta.
However, the National Rifle Association canceled its scheduled Saturday rally with President Trump in Savannah, citing “scheduling conflicts.” President Trump also canceled several press interviews last week.
Trump’s campaign responded angrily to a staffer’s suggestion that Trump was exhausted from the appearance. But Harris saw the idea as a rallying cry.
“And now he’s avoiding debates and canceling interviews because he’s tired,” Harris said. “And have you ever noticed that when he answers questions or speaks at gatherings, he tends to go off-script and ramble, and generally can’t finish a thought for the life of him?… We’re tired of people trying to pit Americans against each other. That’s why I’m saying it’s time to turn the page on this issue.”
Harris interacts with young fans at a rally in Atlanta. Photo: Dustin Chambers/Reuters
On a day of perfect weather in Atlanta, Harris returned to a familiar theme, lowering the cost of living for prescription drugs, groceries and housing through anti-price gouging efforts, while providing financial support to new parents. He explained the “opportunity economy” that Japan provides. And entrepreneurs.
Expanding Medicare coverage for home health care services would prevent working adults from having to quit productive jobs or dip into their savings to care for aging parents. “It’s about dignity,” she said at the city’s Lakewood Amphitheater.
Harris is scheduled to attend a service Sunday at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, a majority-black megachurch in the heart of Atlanta’s black suburbs in southern DeKalb County. New Birth Church in Georgia and other large black churches traditionally organize “Souls to the Polls” drives on Sunday early voting days.
As of 5 p.m. Saturday, the fifth day of early voting in Georgia, nearly 1.3 million Georgians had voted early in person, more than double the 2020 pace. . In 2020, about 2.7 million of the 5 million eligible voters cast early votes, and more than two-thirds had cast their votes by Election Day. But absentee voting has declined significantly, reflecting the end of the pandemic and changes to absentee voting rules.
Early voting provides real-time feedback for election strategists who want to target voters who have not yet cast their ballots. Democrats encouraged their supporters in Georgia to vote early in 2020 and 2022, a strategy that helped them win the 2020 presidential election and Georgia’s two key U.S. Senate victories.
“Georgia, we came out of nowhere,” said U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. “This is an election that will define the character of our republic. This is much deeper than the Democratic versus Republican divide. Former President Trump is not fit to be president.”
But so far this year, early voting in Georgia’s rural and older urban areas, rich in Republican votes, has outpaced Atlanta’s core turnout. Donald Trump has sharply encouraged his supporters to vote early this year, tacitly acknowledging his strategic mistakes in 2020.
Democratic early voters have been vocal about abortion policy being a driving force behind their votes. The deaths of two Georgia women, Amber Thurman and Candy Miller, whose lack of access to timely maternal and child health services and legal abortion resonated in election rhetoric.
Today I’m Asher from Atlanta. Photo: Jacqueline Martin/AP
“Let’s agree. You don’t have to abandon your faith or your deeply held beliefs to agree. The government shouldn’t be telling her what to do,” Harris said. The rally featured footage of Thurman’s family expressing their grief and footage of President Trump mocking their loss in a town hall interview hosted by Fox News.
“He downplays their grief and makes himself and his TV ratings the problem,” Harris said. “That’s cruel.”
But the Lakewood rally was clearly aimed at increasing turnout and enthusiasm among black voters. Usher, an iconic Atlanta-based R&B musician and dancer, addressed the crowd early and urged Harris to vote early and reach out to friends and family.
“How we vote – everything we do over the next 17 days – will impact our children, our grandchildren, and the people we love most,” Usher said. he said.
Ryan Wilson, co-founder of the private networking hub Gathering Spot and a prominent Atlanta entrepreneur, discussed Harris’ proposal to provide grants of up to $50,000 to Black entrepreneurs. “That would have been a game changer for me,” he said. “Vice President Harris’ Opportunity Policy for Black Men will give people like me the tools to acquire generational wealth, reduce costs, and protect our rights. And what would Donald Trump do? I think it’s fair to say “nothing”. ”
