Vice President Kamala Harris tells Trump to 'say it to my face!' at Atlanta rally

ATLANTA - Before Kamala Harris took the stage at her campaign event on Tuesday, the atmosphere felt more like a party than a political rally . Some 10,000 supporters had lined up hours before to see the vice president facing heat and Georgia’s infamous summer storms.

Once inside the arena, a procession of Georgia’s political heavyweights took the stage in support of Harris, including Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, former Democratic candidate for governor Stacey Abrams, and Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.

Songs spanning musical genres – from Whitney Houston to Migos – blasted through the speakers. The crowd, energized by a fresh campaign, danced with signs that simply read “KAMALA.” Megan Thee Stallion hit the stage right before Harris, performing in a bright blue pantsuit to her top hits “Mamushi” and “Body.”

Kamala Harris takes the stage

The packed arena erupted into applause as Harris walked out to Beyonce’s 2016 song “Freedom.” But Harris was all business upon taking the stage, marking her 15th visit to Georgia since taking office and her first to the battleground state as the presumptive Democratic nominee.

“As many of you know, before I was elected vice president, and before I was elected a United States senator … I was a courtroom prosecutor,” Harris said. “So in those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds; predators who broke the rules for their own game.”

She went on to discuss her time as attorney general for California.

“As attorney general, I held the big Wall Street banks accountable for fraud," Harris said. "Donald Trump was just found guilty of fraud. Through this campaign, I will proudly put my record against his any day.”

Harris also staunchly defended the record of the Biden-Harris administration, focusing on its immigration policies and stance on border security.

She dismissed the attacks that have dogged her about being Biden’s “border czar.” Harris described walking through underground tunnels with Border Patrol agents to help catch – and ultimately prosecute – drug dealers and members of cartels during her time as attorney general of a border state.

Harris also issued a challenge to Trump, demanding he face her on the debate stage. Trump previously said he will not commit to debating Harris because he’s not sure she’ll be the nominee.

The crowd broke out into cheers when Harris delivered what was likely her best received line of the night: “I do hope you’ll reconsider and meet me on the debate stage, because, as the saying goes, if you’ve got something to say, say it to my face!”

Melissa Cruz is an elections reporting fellow who focuses on voter access issues for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach her at mcruz@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter, at @MelissaWrites22.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vice President Kamala Harris tells Trump to 'say it to my face!' at Atlanta rally