During one of her initial campaign appearances following the conviction of former President Donald J. Trump for falsifying business records, Vice President Kamala Harris is anticipated to strongly denounce him on Saturday as a “cheater” who believes he is above the law. She is also expected to argue that he should be disqualified from running for the presidency.
Ms. Harris, who is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at a state Democratic Party dinner in Detroit, will push back against Mr. Trump’s false allegations that his trial, similar to the 2020 presidential election, was “rigged.” She will defend the legal process that led to his felony conviction, as per excerpts from her prepared speech obtained by The New York Times.
In the excerpts, Ms. Harris, the former Attorney General of California, accuses Mr. Trump of undermining “the core principles of our justice system.” She highlights that the former president was found guilty by a jury of 12 Americans, some of whom were selected by his own defense team, and emphasizes that his attorneys had the opportunity to present their evidence.
“You know why he complains? Because the truth is that cheaters don’t like being caught,” the excerpts read.
The event is set to take place in a crucial battleground. President Biden secured a victory in Michigan’s primary in February, with 81 percent of the vote compared to 13 percent for his opponents who urged Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in protest of his stance on Israel. However, over 100,000 voters took that protest vote, including progressives, young voters, and members of the state’s politically active Arab American community. The Biden campaign is also working to strengthen its support among Black voters in urban areas like Detroit.
In 2016, Mr. Trump narrowly won Michigan by nearly 11,000 votes, but in the 2020 election, he lost the state to Mr. Biden by over 150,000 votes. Mr. Trump focused on Michigan’s voting process in his attempts to challenge the 2020 election results.
