Vice President Kamala Harris faced questions about whether sexism was a factor in the presidential election during an interview on NBC News on Tuesday, saying she was making no assumptions about whether voters would make their decisions based on race or gender.
Polls show Harris, the Democratic nominee, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, locked in an extremely close race that is largely characterized by a gender gap in voter preferences. Harris is winning the women’s vote while Trump is stronger among men, polls show.
Accordingly, more than 24.5 million early votes were documented by Wednesday afternoon University of Florida Elections Laboratory Early voting tracker. Among states with party registration data, Democrats led the way with about 5.3 million people registered and voting with that party, compared to about 4.3 million for Republicans and 2.7 million with no party or another party .
When asked by NBC News’ Hallie Jackson whether Harris sees sexism in the race, the Veep pointed out that both men and women attend her campaign events, “be they small events or events with 10,000 people.”
“The experience I have is one where it is clear that regardless of gender, someone wants to know that their president has a plan to reduce costs, that their president has a plan to secure America in our context. “position around the world,” Harris said.
When Jackson asked Harris if she didn’t consider sexism to be a factor in the race at all, Harris said, “I don’t think about it that way.”
“My challenge is to ensure that I can speak to and listen to as many voters as possible and earn their vote, and I will never assume that anyone in our country should elect a leader based on their gender or race,” said she said.
If elected, Harris would be the first female president, the first Black female president and the first female president of South Asian descent.
Asked whether the country is now ready for a woman and a woman of color as president, Harris said: “Absolutely.”
“As you know, I started as a prosecutor. “I’ve never asked a victim of a crime or a witness to a crime, ‘Are you a Republican or a Democrat?’ The only thing I’ve ever asked them is, ‘Are you OK?'” Harris said.
“And that’s what the American people want to know – regardless of their race, regardless of their gender, their age – they want to know that they have a president who sees them, understands their needs and is focused on their needs and “Understands that we all deserve to have a president who is focused on solutions and not just stoking the fires of division and hate,” she added.
When asked why she was hesitant to talk about the historic nature of her candidacy on the campaign trail, Harris said she was “clearly a woman” and didn’t need to “point that out to anyone.”
“The point that most people really care about is: Can you do the work and do you have a plan to actually focus on it? That’s why I spend the majority of my time listening to and then addressing the concerns, challenges, dreams, ambitions and aspirations of the American people.”
Harris said the country deserves a president who is “focused on them, as opposed to a Donald Trump who is constantly focused on himself.”
Biden: “We have to lock him up… lock him up politically”
In the meantime I spoke at a Democratic Campaign Office In Concord, New Hampshire, on Tuesday, President Joe Biden sparked controversy when he said, “We have to lock him up,” in reference to Trump.
Biden, who received applause and cheers from the crowd, quickly backtracked and added, “Lock him up politically.”
“Lock him out, that’s what we have to do,” Biden said.
Trump – who was sentenced on 34 felony counts in a case in New York state earlier this year – has repeatedly made claims of “political persecution.”
In response, Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, said in a statement on Wednesday: “Joe Biden just admitted the truth: He and Kamala always had a plan to politically persecute their opponent, President Trump, because of him can’t beat fair and square.” Square.”
Leavitt said the Biden-Harris administration is “the real threat to democracy” while also calling on Harris to “condemn Joe Biden’s disgraceful remark.”
Kelly comments on Hitler, fascists spark controversy
In an interview with the New York TimesJohn F. Kelly – the former president’s longest-serving chief of staff and a former four-star Marine general – said Trump “said more than once, ‘You know, Hitler did some good things, too.'”
When asked if Trump was a “fascist,” Kelly said that Trump “certainly falls under the general definition of fascist,” according to the Times.
The Atlantic also published a bombshell story on Tuesday that said, among other things, that Trump said, “I need the kind of generals Hitler had.”
Responding to recent reporting, Harris said in brief remarks Wednesday outside the vice president’s residence before his departure for Pennsylvania: “It is deeply disturbing and incredibly risky that Donald Trump would invoke Adolf Hitler, the man responsible for death of “6 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Americans.”
“This is a look at who Donald Trump really is, from the people who know him best, from the people who worked side by side with him in the Oval Office and the Situation Room,” she added.
In a statement Wednesday, the Trump campaign pointed to coverage of the friendship between The Atlantic owner and Harris, saying: “It is no surprise that The Atlantic published a false smear in the run-up to the election to attack Kamala Harris.” to facilitate her failed election campaign.” .”
Walz and his family cast their votes
According to a pool report, Harris’ running mate, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, cast his vote Wednesday at the Ramsey County elections office in St. Paul, Minnesota, along with his wife Gwen and son Gus.
Walz told a woman at the counter that Gus, 18, was voting for the first time and that he was “pretty excited,” the report said.
Vance on schools and immigration
At a campaign rally on Tuesday in Peoria, Arizona, Trump’s vice presidential running mate, Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, claimed that Harris “used programs designed to help people escaping tyranny and thereby granted amnesty to millions and millions.” “People who have no legal right to be in the country and that has to stop.”
“I mean, in Arizona schools right now we have thousands and thousands of kids who can’t even speak the native language, the national language in Arizona, sometimes of course they don’t even speak Spanish because we have illegal immigrants coming from everywhere “, he added.
“What does this mean for the education of American children when their teachers don’t teach them but instead focus on children who don’t have the legal right to be here? And again, nothing against the kids, but we can’t have a border policy that ruins the quality of American education.”
However, the Arizona Republic reported that children with circumscribed English proficiency in Arizona are taught in separate classrooms from children who speak English, and bilingual education was eliminated in the state in 2000.
