Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Dallas on Wednesday, touting the Biden administration’s accomplishments as panic among national Democrats continued to set in over their presidential ticket coming apart at the seams.
She delivered her speech to about 20,000 members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, a historically Black sorority, at their annual convention at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Clad in salmon pink, one of the sorority's trademark colors, Harris sought to shore up the president’s support among Black Americans, a critical demographic in the upcoming elections.
The vice president did not, however, address the elephant in the room: the breathless national debate about whether President Joe Biden should step aside as the party’s nominee, opening the possibility for her to run in his place. She also did not answer press questions about whether Biden should step aside after the event.
Many Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, are openly warning that Biden will lose the election and hurt Democrats in key down-ballot races, including the Senate election in Texas.
Biden is also heading to Texas soon, speaking at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin on Monday to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.
Harris, who joined AKA as a college student at Howard University, kicked off her keynote speech in Dallas on Tuesday by acknowledging Hurricane Beryl, which pummeled Southeast Texas and has left millions without power in the summer heat.
“President Biden has approved a major disaster declaration, and we will continue to stand with the people of Texas as we rebuild and recover,” Harris said.
Both Biden and Harris have made recent visits to Texas during their tenure, though their campaign has not targeted Texas as a battleground state.
Harris was in Houston last fall, touting the administration’s accomplishment for Latinos. Biden visited Brownsville earlier this year to urge Congress to pass an immigration deal.
Black voters, and Black women in particular, are seen as an essential bloc of Democratic voters, but polls indicate that support could slip in November. Harris has made a number of stops to shore up support, including an appearance at Essence Fest in New Orleans over the weekend. Texas has nearly 3 million eligible Black voters, the most of any state, making up around 14% of all eligible voters.
In her speech, Harris also announced new federal guidelines on postpartum care in hospitals, noting that Black women face particularly higher rates of maternal mortality. She hit on reproductive rights and recent abortion bans passed in states like Texas.
“In the South, where a majority of Black women call home, every state except for Virginia has a ban, many with no exception even for rape or incest,” Harris said. “One does not have to abandon their faith to agree, the government should not be telling her what to do with her body.”
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