'I know Donald Trump's type,' Harris lays out her strategy in first campaign speech since Biden steps aside

In her first campaign after her boss US President Joe Biden stepped down from the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris took jabs at former President Donald Trump. While pointing out Trump’s past records, Harris said that she knows Donald Trump’s “type” and can take down criminals like him.

Harris who is garnering support from the Democrats took the driving seat after US President Joe Biden announced that he won’t be seeking re-election, endorsing Harris minutes later. Throughout his presidency and during the 2024 Presidential campaign, there have been growing concerns about Biden’s age and his mental acuity.

The 81-year-old Commander-in-Chief started facing pressure from fellow Democrats to quit the race after his deplorable performance against Trump in the first presidential debate of this year.

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While addressing a charged-up gathering in Wilmington, Delaware, Harris mentioned her past records of taking on a range of criminals while working as a courtroom prosecutor and the California attorney general.

I’m in Wilmington, Delaware at our campaign headquarters to speak with staff. Tune in now. https://t.co/HYuVc0BVnK

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 22, 2024

“In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds — predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain,” she said. “So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type.”

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Harris’ new strategy: Use legal credentials to highlight Trump’s criminal record

Earlier this year, the former President was found guilty on 34 felony counts in the infamous hush money trial. Over the years, the business mogul turned politician has accumulated a plethora of legal cases.

The speech on Monday reflected Harris’ strategy of playing herself up as a tough prosecutor running against a convicted felon. Many experts believe that this is a good strategy against Trump who has already garnered massive support following an assassination attempt against him at a rally in Pennsylvania.

“As a young prosecutor, when I was in the Alameda County District Attorney’s office in California, I specialized in cases involving sexual abuse. Donald Trump was found liable by a jury for committing sexual abuse,” Harris averred.

“As attorney general of California, I took on one of our country’s largest for-profit colleges and put it out of business,” she continued. “Donald Trump ran a for-profit college, Trump University, that was forced to pay $25 million to the students it scammed," she furthered.

Trump calls Harris ‘Dumb as rock’

Meanwhile, the former president continued with his social media rampage, hurling insults at Harris and slamming the media over how they are covering her.

“Wow, just watching the Fake News, and they’re doing their very best to turn the Worst President in the History of our Country into a “Brilliant and Heroic Leader” (He was heroic because he quit!), and to turn “Dumb as a Rock” Kamala Harris from a totally failed and insignificant Vice President into a future “Great” President. No, it just doesn’t work that way!” the former reality television star wrote on TruthSocial.

“Joe Biden will go down as the Worst President in the history of the United States. KAMALA, OUR HORRIBLE & INCOMPETENT BORDER CZAR, WILL BE WORSE!” he wrote in a separate post.

‘The baton is in our hands’: Harris takes charge

While addressing the crowd, the vice president acknowledged that the last several weeks have been a “rollercoaster”. “It is my intention to go out and earn this nomination and to win,” she said. She promised to “unite our Democratic party, to unite our nation, and to win this election”.

Harris also took time to pay homage to Biden’s long political legacy. “Joe Biden’s legacy of accomplishment over the past three years is unmatched in modern history,” she said, paying tribute to his “deep love of our country” but avoiding talk of her own candidacy at that point.

It is pertinent to note that Haris is yet to officially acquire the nomination from the Democratic Party. However, Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison vowed that the party would deliver a presidential nominee by 7 August.

She mentioned that a virtual nominating process will be conducted before the national convention in Chicago, beginning on 19 August. “I want to assure you that we are committed to an open and fair nominating process,” Harrison said on a conference call.

After a much-noticed delay, the former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, endorsed Harris, insisting that she is “official, personal and political”. “Politically, make no mistake: Kamala Harris as a woman in politics is brilliantly astute – and I have full confidence that she will lead us to victory in November," Pelosi said on Monday, a day after Biden ended his campaign.

The backing of Pelosi, a hugely influential veteran Democratic figure, was the most prominent of a cascade of endorsements from a broad array of allies. Interestingly, the eyes are now on former US President Barack Obama, who initially pushed his former running mate to commence his re-election bid but also reportedly advised him to quit the race.

“We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead,” Obama said in a statement, paying tribute to Biden. “But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges," he concluded.

With inputs from agencies.