Vice President Kamala Harris attempted to defuse calls to replace President Joe Biden on the 2024 Democratic slate with a rally in Las Vegas, but ignored the elephant in the room.
Biden’s fitness for office has come under intense scrutiny over the past two weeks, following his performance during the car crash debate with Donald Trump.
And while Harris is seen as the one to take over if Biden withdraws, the vice president has no hesitation in running again as his No. 2.
“We always knew this election was going to be tough — and the last few days have reminded us that it’s never easy to run for president in the United States,” Harris acknowledged during a swing-state campaign stop Tuesday. “But the one thing we know about our president, Joe Biden, is that he’s a fighter.”
“And he’s the first one to say that when you get knocked down, you get back up. We all know – many of us know what that is. So we’re going to keep fighting and we’re going to keep organizing and in November we’re going to win,” she added.
Vice President Kamala Harris presented a united front at a rally in Las Vegas on Tuesday, while largely ignoring the elephant in the room: the very public demise of President Joe Biden.
Harris, in her nearly 16-minute speech, did not mention Biden’s debate performances or the massive swing against him from within the Democratic Party. Nor did she respond to calls for her to lead the Democratic ticket in November.
The show of unity came at a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander group for Biden was launched.
From Nevada, Harris will travel to Texas on Wednesday for an event and then head back to the East Coast on Thursday to campaign in the right-wing swing state of North Carolina.
This weekend, Harris will host another AANHPI event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Those in attendance on Tuesday, mostly members of the AANHPI community, welcomed the first female vice president with chants of “four more years” and “let’s dump Trump.” Harris, whose mother is from India, is part of the Asian American community.
“We’re 118 days away from the election. And while many of us have been involved in this election every four years and almost every time we say, ‘This is the one.’ Well, this is the one. This is the one. The most existential, consequential, important election of our lifetime,” Harris said from the stage of a ballroom at Resorts World.
Vice President Kamala Harris has been floated as the only person who could replace Biden on a 2024 ticket, but she has doubled down on her support for her boss. Harris and President Joe Biden hold hands during fireworks at the White House on the Fourth of July
Harris was in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday for the launch of the state’s Asian American Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders for Biden group
Instead of building confidence in Biden, the vice president used her speech to criticize Donald Trump’s past and suggest to Americans that they could choose between the sitting president and the former president.
Harris specifically criticized the restrictions on abortion rights that the Supreme Court put in place after Trump appointed three conservative justices.
She also criticized the 34 felony charges against Trump and the four pending criminal cases.
Event attendees who spoke to DailyMail.com said they still want to see Biden at the top of the 2024 slate, but would support Harris if she were to become the nominee in November.