Biden is ‘a fighter,’ VP Kamala Harris says in NC. What Democrats said about the race

Vice President Kamala Harris made a return trip to North Carolina on Thursday for a campaign event at a Greensboro high school, as President Joe Biden tries to shore up support from fellow Democrats.

Harris is a frequent visitor to North Carolina, a swing state where she campaigned when she ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary and when she was the vice presidential pick by Biden, as well as in several official White House visits.

Harris and Biden were last in North Carolina together in March, and Biden was here a few weeks ago.

Harris’ visit comes as Biden is still being questioned by other Democrats and news organizations about his future in the race. Biden has made a series of campaign stops since his June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump that launched the scrutiny, starting with a rally in Raleigh the next day.

State Sen. Gladys Robinson, who spoke on stage during the rally, said afterward that it’s important to show voters how dangerous another Trump presidency could be.

”Why should we have a president who’s a felon?” she said. “I think it’s important that we tell people that and that we do have a president who has the ability to lead this country.”

She said Biden can win in North Carolina if voters get out to “do the work.” She also said Biden’s experience matters more than his age.

”Democrats have the power to elect President Biden and Kamala Harris,” she said. “And they need to stop whining.”

Harris said the last line of defense against Trump is the ballot box.

“Ultimately in this election, we each face a question. What kind of country do we want to live in?” she said. “Do we want to live in a country of freedom, of compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?”

Biden has said repeatedly that he is staying in the race. Many Democrats have stood by Biden, but some have questioned if he should step aside, fueling speculation. Harris is the most likely presidential nominee if Biden gets out of the race, and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s name has been repeatedly floated as her possible running mate, The News & Observer has previously reported.

“Running for president of the United States is never easy — nor should it be,” Harris told a crowd of hundreds of supporters in Greensboro. “But one thing we know about our president, Joe Biden, is that he is a fighter. And he is the first to say ‘when you get knocked down, you get back up.’”

“So we will continue to fight, and we will continue to organize, and in November we will win,” she said.

Who joined Harris in Greensboro?

Cooper joined Harris at the campaign event at James B. Dudley High School. Lawmakers awaiting Harris’ visit to Dudley High School included state Sen. Paul Lowe of Forsyth County and state Sen. Natalie Murdock of Durham, both Democrats.

The press pool reported that Air Force Two landed in Greensboro around 1 p.m. and was greeted by Cooper, Guilford County Board of Commissioners Chairman Skip Alston and Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan. Harris talked to them for a few minutes before heading to the high school, where she took the stage just before 2:30 p.m.

Harris talked about duty.

“We collectively, I know, were raised and taught to understand our duty to serve in the fight for freedom, opportunity and justice for all. And it is that sense of duty — not if you feel like it — duty, which guides us at this very moment,” Harris said.

NC Gov. Cooper says Democrats must ‘come together’

Cooper and other Democratic governors met with Biden about the state of the race on July 3. Afterward, Cooper released a statement supporting Biden and highlighting the need to defeat Trump.

He took the stage in Greensboro to welcome Harris, saying they have known each other for more than 12 years.

“I know she is a fighter, I know she gets the job done and I know that she and Joe Biden need four more years to finish the job they started,” he said.

Cooper also acknowledged the situation.

“I know that tensions are high right now, but we must, and we will, come together,” he said.

Harris’ visit comes on the heels of First Lady Jill Biden’s visit to North Carolina on Monday, in Wilmington.

Cooper talked about “Donald Trump’s America.”

“This election is not just about what kind of president we want to have. This election is about what kind of country we want to be,” he said.

“Donald Trump’s America is where the end of Roe v. Wade is a great thing and politicians police women’s bodies,” Cooper said.

“Donald Trump’s America is where the president incites an angry mob to burn down our democracy and then calls them patriots. Do we want Donald Trump’s America?” Cooper asked.

The crowd shouted “no.”

Cooper also praised the work of Biden and Harris’s administration. “They’re doing everything they can to protect and restore abortion rights, because we ought to leave medicine to the doctors and the decision to women,” Cooper said.

“Joe Biden saved this nation with his victory in 2020 and we must do it again in 2024,” he said.

After Cooper spoke, Mr. Dudley High School Devin Mims took the stage and introduced Harris.

“While I am not yet 18 years old, I will be by Election Day,” Mims said.

“And when I go into the voting booth for the first time this November, I will remember that President Biden and Vice President Harris are the only candidates that are fighting for North Carolinians, and that Donald Trump is only fighting for himself,” he said.

Mims also said he’ll “remember who lies and who tells the truth. Who fights for the future, and who takes us backwards. We know the path to the White House runs through North Carolina, and we’re up to the challenge.”

Crowds awaited Harris at rally

As some people were still waiting to be let in, a crowd of more than 150 people watched James B. Dudley’s Marching Band of Thunder perform. The school’s namesake was a former president of N.C. Agricultural & Technical State University.

Brenda Pollard of Durham was standing in the crowd wearing a trucker hat bedazzled with blue jewels and multiple campaign buttons.

Pollard, a DNC delegate, said she was excited to cast her vote for Biden at the Democratic convention, despite his lackluster debate performance.

“Some people just don’t test well. Some people don’t debate well. We all have our good and bad days. So granted, Trump won that debate. But from that point on, I was at the tarmac when he flew in at 2 a.m. and we greeted him on the tarmac — he is the president and he is charged, he is ready. He doesn’t want our democracy to go away. And we’re behind him,” Pollard told The N&O.

Robinson took the stage before 2 p.m., telling the crowd that Harris and Biden “have delivered a lot — so much for North Carolina — and we must deliver for them.”

Robinson criticized Trump for giving “tax cuts to his billionaire buddies.”

“Donald Trump’s presidency resulted in massive job losses including here in North Carolina. He talked about something called ‘Black jobs’ - what is that?” Robinson said.

Also as people were arriving, about 10 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered near the high school, including Juliana Ganim, part of Muslims for a Better North Carolina.

“Biden, Harris, they’re completely responsible, and we want to let them know they’re not welcome in Greensboro,” Ganim said. “We do not want them here and we do not support what they do.”

The small group of protesters chanted as a sea of attendees and supporters made their way to the gates of the event. During Harris’ speech, at lease one protester was removed after brief shouting during her speech was shouted down with “four more years.”

Sharon Cullison, a retired teacher from Winston-Salem, said she supports Biden and Harris for their “policy” and “decency.”

“I would do anything to make sure Donald Trump doesn’t win,” she said.

She said while she’s planning to vote for Biden, she isn’t sure how to feel about his age. She said at 80 years old, she knows she “couldn’t do his job.”

”I would like to see younger people all the way through,” she said. “I think we have too many old white men.”

Former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, a Republican-turned-independent who has been a critic of Trump, said some of the news coverage surrounding Biden’s age had been unfair and he still finds him to be a superior candidate to Trump.

Although, he said, Harris would also be a capable nominee. “I mean, she’s been an attorney general, United States senator, spent three years as vice president — she’s extraordinarily well qualified.”

Turkeisshia Moore, a nonprofit director and former public school teacher from McLeansville, was one of the people waiting outside to go into the rally.

Moore told The News & Observer she appreciates the Biden-Harris administration because of its support for public education and student loanholders.

”They understand the plight that particularly people my age, mid 40s, have had to endure to try to pay for loans that never seem to be paid for.”

She also said she appreciates the administration’s support for women’s rights and bodily autonomy. This is Moore’s second campaign event this season.

Moore said she thinks the Democratic Party should have seen Biden’s age, 81, as a potential issue for the campaign.

”We knew he was going to get older and older,” she said. “I just don’t think they expected such a swift decline. I think the Democratic Party has a decision to make if they’re gonna get behind Kamala Harris, or if they’re going to look for a new candidate.”

Democrats’ reaction to the speech

After the campaign rally, attendees were supportive of Harris — and Biden.

Thomas Sinclair, a retiree who lives in Greensboro, said he thinks the presidential election will be close in North Carolina, but that Biden and Harris could win. He said he doesn’t think Biden’s age is important to the campaign.

”People are living longer, their cognitive skills may or may not have diminished, but they got experience,” he said.

For mother-daughter duo Bonnie and Arianna Toney, the event was an “incredible” showing of the vice president’s and other speakers’ support for reproductive rights. Both are politically active and have been to several Democratic Party events over the years.

”We cannot afford to place a risk on them not winning,” Arianna Toney said.

Bonnie Toney said while many people in 2020 thought of Biden as a placeholder to pave the way for younger candidates, his administration has been as productive as Lyndon Johnson’s and Franklin Roosevelt’s.

”President Biden is in better shape than I am, and he’s the same age as my dad,” the 52-year-old Bonnie Toney said.