Former first lady Michelle Obama stumped Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania on Saturday night with a speech in which she praised the vice president and urged people to get out and vote while criticizing Donald Trump without once saying his name.
There are less than three days until Election Day and the race in the state is very close, but Harris has seen some signs of momentum heading into the final stretch.
The former first lady argued that in the United States ‘we rise more than we fall’ but warned against those who are trying to tell another story about the country.
He said that in dark and difficult times, the country needs someone who “connect with people’s pain and address systemic problems at their roots, not with leaders who stoke our fears and focus our fury on each other.’
Former First Lady Michelle Obama campaigning for Kamala Harris in Norristown, PA, on November 2, 2024
“Once you open that gas can, once you wink at hate and make it normal to call someone stupid, or low IQ, or human scum, look, you can’t control how quickly or to what extent they become will spread that fire of hatred,” he warned. , referring to some of the names Trump and his allies have called Harris.
“Suddenly someone feels emboldened to say that our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico come from an ‘island of garbage,'” he continued, highlighting the former president’s rally in New York City where a comedian made a racist joke about the territory. .
Obama warned that “the destruction is rapid and merciless, and no one knows where it will end.”
He referred to Trump as a con man, a small man trying to make himself feel big, and Kamala’s opponent, but did not mention him by name.
While the former first lady delivered a stark warning to the packed room, she also offered hope to Democrats in the crowd.
She recalled her husband’s run for president and said Harris’s rallies and optimism remind her of her campaign. He said Democrats won those elections and could do it again.
Obama spoke of the impact a Kamala Harris presidency would have on future generations.
‘Our children deserve to grow up with the extraordinary leadership of Kamala Harris,’ he said, and that Harris has proven that she is the president the country needs ‘right now.’
He said the vice president would be a president who would work for the people and lead with “warmth, joy and grace.”
The former first lady also invoked her late mother, whom she lost this year, as she urged people to vote and spoke about the country’s progress. He said that his mother when she was young was not welcome in department stores.
“But for eight years he had the best American view from his room in the White House,” he said as the crowd applauded.
He said his mother’s trip was only possible because of the people who fought for it, protested “and yes, voted for it.”
‘That’s how it works in this country. We have to vote,’ he said.
Singer Alicia Keys speaking at a Kamala Harris rally in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on November 2.
Obama was joined by Grammy-winning singer Alicia Keys, who is the latest in a series of high-profile artists endorsing the vice president, appearing in battleground states to drum up support in the final days of the campaign.
“I think our vote is a precious gift,” Keys said.
He accused Republicans of wanting to turn back time and take away their security, dignity and the right to vote.
Keys said if people are apathetic and don’t show up to vote, they are losing their power.
“If you don’t vote for Harris, or don’t vote at all, you’re voting for chaos and hate,” he said, telling people to “use your voice, use your vote.”
Alicia Keys greets woman while knocking on door in Pennsylvania
Some voters in the state also got a big surprise this weekend when Keys knocked on doors ahead of Saturday’s rally. The people who opened the door were greeted by the singer, who posed with voters to take photographs.
Governor Josh Shapiro, who is from the area, also spoke at the rally where he talked about his focus on “getting things done.” The crowd responded by chanting “get the sh*t done.”
Shapiro praised Harris’ agenda for the economy and protecting reproductive rights.
Saturday’s event was Michelle Obama’s first solo campaign event for vice president with three days left until Election Day.
He appeared alongside Harris a week ago in Kalamazoo, Michigan, at her first campaign event, where the former first lady harshly criticized Trump and made an emotional appeal to men not to put the lives and health of women at risk. that they love in the hands of the former president.
Obama is a favorite speaker among Democrats even though she has openly stated how much she hates politics. His remarks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago were perhaps the best received of the four-day extravaganza.
Their stop in Norristown, Pennsylvania, which is less than an hour from Philadelphia, comes as Democrats are in the final stretch of their get-out-the-vote effort before Election Day.
Democrats need to attract voters in the suburbs, such as Montgomery County, where Norristown is located, to win the crucial battleground state.
The Philadelphia suburbs have been leaning increasingly Democratic in a series of recent elections that helped deliver a victory for Biden in the Keystone State in 2020.
Vice President Kamala Harris campaigns Nov. 2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. He also campaigned in Georgia as Election Day approaches.
A line of more than five thousand people snaked through the high school parking lot and a field as people lined up for hours to see the former first lady speak in the Norristown Area High School gymnasium on the cool day of autumn.
More than 1.7 million people have already voted in Pennsylvania in the 2024 election. Democrats have far outpaced Republicans when it comes to returning mail-in ballots in the state, despite the Party’s efforts Republican to get more supporters to vote early overall.
Women in Pennsylvania also lead men when it comes to those who have already cast their ballots in the Keystone State, accounting for more than 55 percent of returned votes, according to TargetSmart’s model.
Katherine West of Horsham, PA, attended the rally and is feeling positive about Harris’ ability to carry the state. He has a number of issues on his mind this election cycle.
“The most important one is women’s rights and reproductive rights,” West said. “The second is the economy and then, of course, Medicare and Social Security.”
Carolyn Prante of Norristown is also optimistic about the state of racing in the state. She and her children already cast their vote by mail. She has been a regular at campaign events in previous election cycles, but this was her first of the 2024 election season.
“I have faith that we will do the right thing,” he said. “There is no crystal ball, but I have faith.”
Harris will return to the state on Monday to make multiple campaign stops across the state, signaling how important she is to her path to victory.
The USA Today/Suffolk University poll of likely Pennsylvania voters released Friday showed the race tied at 49 percent for Harris and 49 percent for Trump.
The 2024 elections are described as a gender election with a huge gap between the two candidates.
The poll in Pennsylvania also showed it: Trump leads among men by 20 points, while Harris has an 18-point lead among women in the state.
But there have been other signs of momentum for the vice president. An Iowa poll by the Des Moines Register released Saturday showed her three points ahead of Trump in the red state, 47 percent to 44 percent among likely voters.
