VP Kamala Harris rallies Democrats in NC. How she responded to RNC, JD Vance pick

Vice President Kamala Harris returned to North Carolina on Thursday, a week after her last visit here, and spoke to supporters at a campaign event in Fayetteville.

This is Harris’s seventh visit to the Old North State this year, according to her campaign. It’s her second visit since President Joe Biden’s June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump, who is speaking at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, the final night of the event.

Harris talked about the RNC and Trump making his pick for vice president, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, saying Trump’s selection was trying to distract people from attention on Trump’s record as president and Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation-written policy plan for a Trump presidency.

She said Trump was suggesting that he and Vance “are going to prioritize the middle class. But we are not buying it.”

Harris also said that Republicans are trying to proclaim themselves as the party of unity, “but if you claim you stand for unity, you need to do more than just use the word.” She criticized Republicans for abortion restrictions and those who wanted to overturn the 2020 election.

The vice president’s remarks echoed her speech a week ago in Greensboro and previous campaign speeches, giving highlights of their administration’s successes, like keeping the cost of prescription drugs down for older people.

Gov. Roy Cooper greets Harris

Air Force Two landed at Pope Army Airfield around 12:30 p.m., according to the press pool, and Harris was greeted by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

Also greeting her were Cumberland County Board of Commissioners Chairman Glenn Adams; Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin; Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of the 18th Airborne Corps and Fort Liberty; and Col. Allen C. Morris Jr., commander of the 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group and Task Force Gryphon.

As a crowd waited for Harris, Cooper took the stage at Westover High School in the school’s Gene Arrington Gymnasium. His speech echoed previous campaign speeches, and he talked about what “Donald Trump’s America” might look like.

“This election is not just about what president we want to have,” Cooper said. “This election is about what kind of country we want to be.”

Earlier, Colvin received applause after mentioning the Biden administration’s investment in historically Black colleges and universities. Fayetteville is home to an HBCU, Fayetteville State University.

Several hundred attendees stood in the gym, many noting the warm temperature. Attendees waved “North Carolina for Biden Harris” signs and took selfies with fellow Democrats.

The gymnasium echoed with cheers and claps from the crowd as several speakers emphasized flipping North Carolina blue. Chants of “four more years” erupted several times as they waited for Harris to arrive.

Security for Thursday’s event was tight. There was heavy U.S. Secret Service and Fayetteville Police presence across the event space, with police officers stationed at the exits and among the crowd. Officers with rifles and riot gear were also in the gym.

Kimberly Naff, a rally attendee from Granite Falls, said she is voting for an administration rather than a president. She thinks Biden’s future depends on how he recovers from COVID-19, which he tested positive for on Wednesday. While she does not want Biden to step aside, she said if he does, she would support a ticket with Harris and Cooper. Cooper’s name has surfaced in national conversations as a potential running mate for Harris, if she is named a replacement for Biden.

“I think that the two of them could bring forward something that is really amazing, and start to bring down the age of presidents in the last 10 years,” Naff said.

Naff wasn’t the only attendee who mentioned Cooper’s name as a theoretical Democratic vice president nominee on Thursday. Melissa Wicksel, a 21-year-old attendee from Raleigh, said Cooper “gets stuff done and it seems like Kamala and him are eye-to-eye.”

Democrats’ view of Biden, Harris

Sheila Cuffee, a Fayetteville native, said she was excited to support Harris. She said she has faith in Biden, though acknowledged others’ fears about his age. If Biden does step down and Harris replaces him as the Democratic presidential nominee, Cuffee said Cooper “would be an excellent choice” for vice president.

For Cuffee, Harris’ attention to North Carolina isn’t surprising.

“North Carolina is a swing state,” she said. “The GOP is heavily trying to make sure that they can turn it red and it’s up to us to turn it blue.”

Thursday was Fayetteville resident Pamela Packer’s first event for the Biden-Harris campaign. Packer said she would back Harris if Biden stepped away from the presidential race, although she said she isn’t sure if the country is ready for a woman president.

Matt Barr, Winston-Salem resident and a Forsyth County Democratic Party precinct chair, told The News & Observer after the rally that he would back the presidential and vice presidential nominees that the Democratic party puts up, adding that the country is facing a “worrisome period.”

“Whatever is the decision of the party, whether it ends up being Kamala or whoever, I am behind,” Barr said. “I think this is a consequential election for our country and if Trump wins, it would be terrible on a lot of different levels.”

Harris came to Greensboro on July 11 and gave a speech about Biden being “a fighter” and staying in the race. She was joined by Cooper on stage at the rally at Dudley High School.

North Carolina is a swing state, but has narrowly swung toward Republicans in most races the past few elections, aside from Cooper’s two gubernatorial victories.

On Saturday, the North Carolina Democratic Party will host a dinner in Raleigh featuring a keynote speech by former Democratic U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Smithfield resident Doris Wallace, a Democratic National Convention delegate, said she came to the Harris event to encourage people to vote for Biden.

“I stand with Biden 100%, and I think it is bad that everyone is second guessing him,” she said. “He is a fighter.”

Brenda Pollard, a DNC delegate from Durham, said she remains steadfast — though she said voters’ concerns about Biden are justified and noted Harris’ qualifications. Pollard was also at Harris’ visit in Greensboro.

“I am behind him until he says he doesn’t want to do the job,” Pollard said.

Photos: Vice President Kamala Harris visits Fayetteville, NC to rally support for Biden

Harris visit during RNC

The first day of the RNC this week included a speech by N.C. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson , a Republican who is running for governor.

Trump survived an assassination attempt at a rally on Saturday, when a gunman’s bullet grazed his ear. Harris spoke about the attack Wednesday at a political event in Michigan.

“As we all know, it was a heinous, horrible, and cowardly act,” Harris said. “My husband, Doug, and I are thankful he was not seriously injured. That day, as soon as we saw what was happening, we said a prayer for his well-being. And our thoughts immediately turned to Melania, who we have met, and their family.”

“The bottom line is no one should have to fear for the safety of a loved one because they serve in public office,” she said. In Michigan, Harris also offered condolences to the man killed at the rally, Corey Comperatore, who she called “a true hero who died protecting his family.”

Packer, who was at the Fayetteville Harris rally, said she said she was surprised to see Trump’s calls for unity following the assassination attempt on Saturday.

“It won’t change my vote, but I was glad to see that, because at the end of the day, we are more alike than different,” Packer said.

To Packer, the campaign’s decision to come to Fayetteville is key. She said “voting is going to make a difference” for many of the individuals who live in the city.

“Fayetteville has a lot of neighborhoods that are underserved and I think there are people who think that it is not important to vote because they feel left behind,” she said.

While most rally attendees were Democrats, not all were.

Amber Gulch, an unaffiliated voter from Fayetteville, voted for Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020. She’s still undecided about who she will cast a ballot for in 2024.

She said she will listen to Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday evening just as she had listened to Harris’ speech earlier in the day. “I like to get all the information before I make my final decision,” Gulch said.