Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Trump-friendly Pennsylvania on Friday, but it was the people on her side of the aisle who caused a stir.
The Democratic nominee held a rally Friday night in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, packing the McHale Athletic Center on the downtown campus of Wilkes University with more than 5,000 supporters in a county where Trump won by nearly 15 points.
Fifteen minutes into her speech, as she talked about overturning Roe v. Wade, a left-wing protester booed her and called her a “war criminal.”
“Listen, now is the time to reach an agreement on the hostages and a ceasefire. We’ve been working tirelessly to achieve that,” the vice president said. “And I respect your voice, but I’m the one speaking right now.”
His silence earned him applause from the crowd, but like a game of Whac-A-Mole, another protester appeared, this time a man in a straw hat shouting loudly in support of independent progressive candidate Cornel West.
Vice President Kamala Harris made two appearances Friday in Pennsylvania counties that voted for former President Donald Trump. At her rally in Wilkes-Barre, she had to rebuke left-leaning protesters who called her a “war criminal” and chanted in support of Cornel West.
A pro-Palestinian protester first disrupted Vice President Kamala Harris’ rally Friday night in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The man called Harris a “war criminal.” She briefly spoke about reaching a ceasefire agreement and told him, “I’m talking.”
Harris continued her speech despite the interruptions, as one member of the crowd pointed his middle finger at the man and others booed.
The rowdy crowd also initially booed Harris’s introducer, Mary Grace Vadala, when she admitted to being a “lifelong Republican.”
The boos turned to cheers when Vadala told a moving story about how her mother had become a devotee of former President Donald Trump after watching him on The Apprentice.
“But during the pandemic, at a time when many of us were looking to Trump for leadership, strength and comfort, she was betrayed by him like so many others,” Vadala said.
“We needed a leader, but we never had one,” Vadala continued. “Instead, Donald Trump did what he always does: He spread misinformation and bragged about how well he was doing while thousands of people were dying, workers were losing their jobs, and Pennsylvania families like mine were left broke.”
The former Republican voter said Trump “led our nation to ruin.”
“His recklessness endangered the American people, cost us millions of jobs and led to the deaths of more than a million Americans, including my mother,” he said, as the crowd gasped in response.
A second heckler (center, wearing a straw hat) interrupted Vice President Kamala Harris. He shouted, “Vote for Cornel West.” West, a former supporter of progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, is running as an independent in the presidential race.
The Democratic candidate packed the McHale Athletic Center on the downtown campus of Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Friday. During the 2020 election, Luzerne County as a whole leaned toward Trump by nearly 15 points.
Earlier Friday, Harris made a brief stop in Johnstown, a town known for a historic flood in a county that dramatically abandoned the Democratic Party after being represented for years by the late, powerful Democratic Rep. John Murtha.
Harris landed at Johnstown Airport, named after the late congressman, and was greeted by Sen. John Fetterman and his wife Gisele.
Fetterman’s successful bid for Senate in 2022 is what the Harris campaign is emulating by running the Democratic candidate in counties like Cambria and Luzerne.
“Nothing is a lost cause,” campaign co-chairman Delaware Sen. Chris Coons told DailyMail.com on Tuesday night at a Harris-Walz debate viewing party in Philadelphia. “What the Fetterman campaign showed is that you have to compete for every vote.”
In a race that seemed incredibly close, Fetterman, who was recovering from a stroke, beat Republican television host Dr. Mehmet Oz by nearly five points.
Supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris wait in line on Main Street in Wilkes-Barre Friday afternoon waiting to enter her rally at the McHale Athletic Center on the downtown campus of Wilkes University.
The reflection of a Trump sign is seen in the window of a business selling reptiles in downtown Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, as supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris wait in line to see the Democratic nominee.
Fetterman barely moved the dial in Pennsylvania’s most Republican counties, but it was enough to boast a resounding victory.
“You can’t be in every county in the country, but you can’t win Pennsylvania by just campaigning in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh,” Coons said, pointing to the state’s largest cities. “You have to go everywhere.”
In Luzerne County, where Wilkes-Barre is located, 56.7 percent of voters voted for Trump, while 42.3 percent backed Biden, meaning Trump won by 14.4 percent four years ago.
In 2022, under Fetterman, 44.4 percent backed the Democrat while 53.2 percent voted for Oz, meaning Fetterman lost the county by a smaller margin of 8.8 points.
There was a similar movement in Cambria County, where Johnstown is the largest population center.
In 2020, Trump beat Biden 68.1 percent to 30.8 percent, a difference of 37.3 points.
In 2022, Oz outraised Fetterman 63.7 to 33.4, narrowing the GOP’s still-wide lead to 30.7 points.
Vice President Kamala Harris (center) stopped by Johnstown on Friday afternoon and was greeted by Sen. John Fetterman (left) and his wife Gisele (right). Harris’ campaign has studied Fetterman’s 2022 campaign and hopes to emulate it in 2024.
Vice President Kamala Harris visits Johnstown’s Classic Elements, a coffee shop, wine bar and bookstore on Friday as she tries to drum up votes in the reddest parts of Pennsylvania in a bid to retain the state.
This comes after Democratic President Barack Obama narrowly won Cambria County over Republican Sen. John McCain in 2008.
On Friday afternoon in Johnstown, Harris greeted several hundred supporters at the Johnstown airport before stopping by a small business: Classic Elements, an independent bookstore that also houses a coffee shop and wine bar.
He praised the store owners for creating a “safe space.”
“And in the midst of so many forces trying to make people feel alone or divide us, I think it’s really important that we be intentional about creating a safe place,” the vice president said.
Harris told reporters she felt “very good about Pennsylvania because there are a lot of people in Pennsylvania who deserve to be seen and heard.”
“That’s why I’m here in Johnstown,” he said.