Harris challenges Trump at boisterous Georgia rally to ‘say it to my face’ in debate dare

Vice President Kamala Harris at an Atlanta rally, July 30, 2024. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to a fired-up crowd Tuesday in Georgia where Democrats have been buoyed by her rise to the top of the ballot and what they see as a new opportunity to shut former President Donald Trump out of the White House.

“The path to the White House runs right through this state,” Harris said to a packed Georgia State Convocation Center in downtown Atlanta. “And you all helped us win in 2020 and we are going to do it again in 2024.”

This was Harris’ first visit to Georgia as the likely Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden’s withdrawal upended the 2024 presidential race. But Harris has been a frequent visitor to Georgia as vice president, making Tuesday’s rally her 15th stop here since being sworn in less than four years ago.

The shake-up at the top of the ballot has transformed a presidential race that was plagued with low voter enthusiasm, even dread for some.

And the new energy was palpable Tuesday, with a performance from Megan Thee Stallion and warm-up speeches from a string of prominent Democrats and Atlanta rapper Quavo revving up the crowd ahead of Harris.

Supporters filled the arena with deafening cheers and chants like “not going back” and “too scared” in reference to Trump backing out of a second presidential debate, but first against Harris. The spirited crowd at times drowned out the speakers. Harris walked out to rowdy applause and chants of “Kamala.”

Harris taunted Trump for backing out of the debate schedule that he agreed to when Biden was still the expected Democratic nominee.

“Well, Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage,” she said. “Because as the saying goes, if you’ve got something to say, say it to my face.”

Harris campaign aides told reporters Monday that they are seeing measurable signs of enthusiasm in the surge of volunteers and donations, but they recognize that 2020’s razor-thin victory in Georgia will be a challenge to repeat. Biden won Georgia by less than 12,000 votes, making him the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state in three decades.

“Let’s level set, friends, let’s level set,” Harris said to the boisterous crowd. “We have a fight in front of us, and we are the underdogs in this race.”

This crowd seemed eager for the challenge, and the opportunity to potentially elect a candidate whose presidency would make history was also electrifying the crowd.

“We will do the work of making Kamala Harris not only someone who breaks ties in the Senate but breaks barriers in the oval office,” said Stacey Abrams, a former House minority leader who came close to becoming the nation’s first Black woman governor back in 2018.

But the Harris campaign is also hoping moderate and disaffected Republicans will help deny Trump another term in the White House.

Former GOP Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who has been a vocal critic of Trump since the aftermath of the 2020 election, was seen on the sidelines at Tuesday’s rally. Duncan endorsed Biden earlier and has since backed Harris as a means for getting the Republican party to move on past Trump.

Duncan said Tuesday that the party lines “are blurred more than ever” today.

“This is a historical event that’s going to take place,” Duncan said in an interview. “I think there’s an opportunity for this country to hit the reset button even. It means we have to vote for somebody we don’t agree with a hundred percent of their policies.”

Trump answered Harris’ Georgia stop by announcing one of his own set for this Saturday at the same downtown Atlanta venue. The GOP nominee will campaign with his running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance.

Former GOP Congressman Doug Collins said Georgia Republicans are mentally adjusting to Harris as the new rival. To Collins, the shake-up at the top of the ticket is about Democrats trying to regain ground after Biden’s disastrous debate performance in Atlanta a month ago.

“She can’t run from an administration record and that’s what most people, especially people on the left, have forgotten,” Collins said Tuesday.

Sure, Democrats are excited to have a candidate they believe can take on Trump, Collins said. But he said he thinks the media’s portrayal of Harris’ impact on the race is “over the top.”

Georgia Democrats, though, would disagree.

“I’m so excited I can’t sleep at night,” said Gloria Jenkins, an 82-year-old who chairs the Democratic Party of Georgia’s senior caucus who is thrilled at the prospect of potentially helping to elect the first Black woman president.

Before Harris became the likely nominee, Jenkins acknowledged the lagging energy in Georgia. But she said that has changed and that her constantly low cell phone battery – drained from all the election chatter – is as good a barometer as any.

For Diahann Fulwider, Harris’ rise has inspired her to vote in November after she decided she would sit this one out when her disappointment in Biden turned into dismay as she watched the president struggle through the CNN debate last month.

Fulwider, who is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., called the response to Harris’ presidential candidacy “a movement.” Harris is also a member of AKA.

“It reenergized the middle-class Black woman,” Fulwilder said of Harris’ presidential campaign.

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com. Follow Georgia Recorder on Facebook and X.