Vice President Kamala Harris comes to Philadelphia to court Asian-American voters
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at the Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote Presidential Town Hall at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on July 13, 2024 in Philadelphia. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA — Vice President Kamala Harris returned to Philadelphia on Saturday to deliver the keynote address at the Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) Presidential Town Hall. Harris, the first Asian-American vice president, emphasized the importance this community played in the 2020 election and will play in the upcoming presidential election.
“In 2020, it was the leaders here who helped to energize, organize and mobilize. It is you who helped elect Joe Biden to become President of the United States and me to become Vice President of the United States,” Harris said Saturday, to applause. “And in 2024, we are counting on your leadership, once again.”
Harris is seeking to court the key AANHPI voting bloc that has seen support for President Joe Biden soften since 2020, according to the latest bi-annual survey.
The 2024 Asian American Voter Survey found 46% of Asian American voters say they’ll likely vote for Biden, down from 54% in 2020. And 31% of those surveyed said they would likely vote for former President Donald Trump this year, compared to 30% in 2020.
But the survey also found 62% view Trump unfavorably, with 43% viewing him very unfavorably; 44% view Biden unfavorably, including 23% very unfavorably.
The most important issues to Asian American voters include jobs and the economy (86%); inflation (85%) and healthcare (85%), the survey found.
Harris didn’t focus much on the economy during her address, but touted the Biden-Harris administration’s strengthening of the Affordable Care Act and blasted former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, for his efforts to repeal the law while he was in office. She also criticized Trump for appointing three Supreme Court justices who sided in the Dobbs decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The vice president took aim at Trump for a significant portion of her speech, accusing him of inciting hate and vilifying immigrants.
Harris was not the only speaker at the conference to criticize Trump for this, particularly as it related to the former president’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), the Democratic Caucus vice chair, cited the rise in hate crimes and discrimination against Asian-Americans during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Certainly, it was not helped when the former president gave a permission structure for people to attack the AANHPI community,” Lieu said Saturday.
“Donald Trump used racist phrases like ‘Kung Flu,’” he added. “Donald Trump blamed the pandemic on people that look like you and me.” Lieu also cited Trump mocking former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao as an example.
U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Chair of the Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) praised the Biden administration for signing legislation attempting to combat hate crimes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Harris has been at the front of the Biden campaign’s efforts to appeal to AAPI voters. On Tuesday, she launched the campaign’s AANHPI Voters for Biden-Harris initiative in a social media post and later held a formal launch event in Nevada. Harris joined President Joe Biden in a Philadelphia campaign stop in May, to help launch the campaign’s Black Voters for Biden-Harris in Philadelphia.
“Our campaign knows the power of AANHPI voters and the pivotal role they will play in protecting this progress,” Biden-Harris 2024 Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander spokesperson Andrew Peng said in a statement to the Capital-Star, “and our historic investments to reach AANHPI voters across various languages and mediums, the launch of our AANHPIs for Biden-Harris organizing and engagement program in battleground states, and the Vice President’s participation at the APIAVote Presidential Town Hall in Philadelphia make clear that we won’t take any vote for granted this November.”
Saturday is Harris’s first visit to Pennsylvania since President Joe Biden’s poor debate performance in June which has resulted in speculation that she could lead the ticket in November. Biden has remained adamant that he is not abandoning his re-election bid, despite over a dozen elected Democrats in Congress and 24 former elected Democratic congressmen calling on Biden to not seek a second term. And Harris has continued to boost Biden in public appearances including during Saturday’s speech in Philadelphia.
“We always knew this election would be tough, and the past few days have been a reminder that running for President of the United States is never easy, nor should it be,” Harris said. “But one thing we know about our President, Joe Biden, he is a fighter, and he is the first to say, when you get knocked down, you get right back up. So we will continue to fight, we will continue to organize, and in November, we will win.”
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.
Pennsylvania Democrats, including U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman, and Gov. Josh Shapiro have defended Biden amid those calls for him to step aside. However, U.S. Rep. Susan Wild (D-7th District) has expressed concern about Biden’s “electability.” U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (D-12th District) said Biden needs to show “that he’s up for the task” of staying in the race and suggested that Harris should be the nominee if Biden decides to not run for a second term.
Biden’s most recent appearance in Pennsylvania was last Sunday. He started off his day attending service at a traditionally Black church in Northwest Philadelphia, followed by speaking to supporters at a campaign office in Philadelphia and Harrisburg.
In late-May, Harris visited Philadelphia to court union voters at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) gathering. Like that address, also at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, some protesters were present on Saturday chanting “free Palestine,” while others attempted to drown out those chants with “four more years.”
Saturday’s town hall also addressed some Philadelphia-centric matters. Harris detailed the Biden administration’s investment into plans that will reconnect sections of Chinatown.
A video presentation prior to Harris and other elected officials speaking also detailed opposition from the community to the proposal for the Philadelphia 76ers to build an arena next to Chinatown.
Saturday is another eventful day for the 2024 campaign in Pennsylvania. While Harris spoke in Philadelphia, former President Donald Trump rallied in western Pennsylvania and first lady Jill Biden attended an Italian Sons and Daughters of America dinner in Pittsburgh.
The Cook Political Report labels the presidential race in Pennsylvania as a toss-up, although recent polling has shown Trump with a narrow edge over Biden. The state’s 19 electoral votes are the most among any of the battleground states.
“AANHPI’s are the fastest growing racial group in the US, and as a result, the fastest growing voting bloc,” Chu said. “Not only have we claimed our seat at the table, but AANHPI’s have truly gone from being marginalized to being the margin of victory.”
Biden beat Trump in Pennsylvania in 2020 by just over 80,000 votes.
Update: This story was updated at 1:38 p.m. July 13, 2024 with comment from the Biden campaign’s AANHPI spokesperson, and at 6 p.m. with details from the event.