Vice President Kamala Harris could barely contain herself as she skewered former President Donald Trump for his response about health care at the presidential debate and called for another showdown with her GOP rival at her first campaign rally since their showdown.
Harris headed down to Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday as she looks to ride momentum off her face-off with Trump in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
The Democratic presidential nominee touted her debate performance even as Trump posted there will be no third debate and declared victory.
‘Two nights ago Donald Trump and I had our first debate,’ Harris said as the crowd cheered. ‘And I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate.’
‘On Tuesday night, I talked about issues that I know matter to families across America,’ the vice president said.
Kamala Harris took the stage to thunderous applause in Charlotte, NC for her first campaign rally after the debate on Tuesday. During the event, she called for another debate saying they ‘owe it to the voters’
Harris rattled off ‘bringing down the costs of living, investing in America’s small businesses, protecting labor, protecting reproductive freedom and keep our nation safe and secure.’ She argued the former president delivered from the ‘same tired playbook.’
The vice president also slammed the former president for his debate response about replacing Obamacare after he spent his first term in office attempting to get the legislation repealed.
‘Donald Trump intends to end the Affordable Care Act,’ Harris warned. ‘You heard what he said in the debate – he has no plan to replace it.’
‘He said “concepts of a plan,”‘ Harris howled with laugher.
People in the crowd could be heard yelling ‘concepts’ which was what Trump said during the debate when the moderator asked him to clarify whether he has a plan.
‘Oh you all watched the debate!’ Harris responded barely able to control her laughter. ‘Concepts, concepts. No actual plan. concepts.’
Harris pointed out that 45 million Americans are insured through Obamacare.
‘And he’s going to end it based on a concept,’ Harris shrugged. She said it would take the U.S. back to a time when people could be denied for pre-existing conditions.
‘Well we are not going back,’ Harris said.
Kamala Harris was met with thunderous applause when she entered. When she went after Trump for only having ‘concepts’ of a health care replacement plan, the crowd laughed. She also received massive cheers when she brought up protecting reproductive freedoms
Trump also received boos from the crowd again when the vice president pointed out that he refused to answer a debate question about whether he would sign a national abortion ban.
The vice president’s remarks about protecting access to abortion received some of the biggest applause at the rally Thursday.
Harris was not the only one to tout her debate performance on Thursday in North Carolina.
‘How about that debate Tuesday night?’ said Governor Roy Cooper to cheering crowds. He praised her debate performance as ‘presidential.’
Harris’ has been intensely campaigning in North Carolina as Democrats see it as a state they have an opportunity to pick up in November.
While Trump won the state in 2016 and 2020, it also has a Democratic governor. The ex-president won it against President Joe Biden by less than 1.5 points or less than 75,000 votes.
The Real Clear Politics average of polls shows the race in a statistical tie in the state with several recent polls even giving the vice president a slight edge. The last Democrat to win the state in a presidential election was Barack Obama in 2008.
Harris has made a series of recent visits to the state including delivering her first policy address on the economy in Raleigh last month.
Biden trailed in the state but after Harris took over the top of the ticket in July, Democrats across the state saw a surge in enthusiasm and volunteers lining up to help elect the vice president.
Supporters in Charlotte wearing Harris-Walz shirts, stickers and hats on Thursday began lining up before 9:30am outside the Bojangles Coliseum in the hopes of seeing the Democratic nominee speak.
They are confident their state can go blue in 2024, but there is work to do.
Attendees waiting outside the Bojangles Arena in Charlotte, NC for Kamala Harris’ rally on September 12. Supporters near the front of the line told DailyMail.com they arrived around 9:30am to get in
Volunteers receiving instructions ahead of Kamala Harris’ rally in Charlotte, NC. Many people in attendance wore stickers that read ‘we’re not going back.’ It is a popular line from Harris’ stump speech, in ‘brat’ green
‘There are Republicans in North Carolina who are not going to vote for Trump, and that gives me hope,’ said Carol Injaychock waiting in line for Harris’ rally.
‘My goodness, we love her. We need to fight for our Democracy,’ said Donna Forrester. ‘It’s been a very long ten years.’
The first ballots in North Carolina were supposed to go out on September 6 but were delayed due to the state Supreme Court ruling that election officials must remove Robert Kennedy Jr’s name off the ballot and reprint them.
‘North Carolina will be the state that seals the deal for Kamala Harris,’ said Congressman Jeff Jackson ahead of her remarks.
From Charlotte, Harris is also headed to Greensboro for another campaign rally. On Friday, she has campaign stops in central Pennsylvania.
Harris’ visit to the battleground states kick off a new ‘aggressive’ phase of the campaign with just over fifty days to go before the election.
It includes the vice president, running mate Tim Walz and other campaign surrogates fanning out across the key swing states. The campaign also plans to cut ads using footage from the debate to target key voter groups and members of the Democratic coalition. The first one dropped Wednesday.
Harris will be upping her media appearances in the final stretch as well. It comes amid criticism over her lack of solo interviews or press conferences as the Democratic nominee.
The vice president is expected to be especially focused on reaching battleground state voters and key members of the Democratic coalition with interviews with local state media in the coming days.
Next week, she is also expected to participate in a conversation with journalists from the National Association of Black Journalists.
