Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday was joined by former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger and more than 100 other Republicans who are supporting her bid for the White House for a campaign event in battleground Pennsylvania, part of her efforts to reach out to those across the aisle who may be put off by former President Donald Trump in the election's final stretch.
“In a typical election year, you all being here with me, might be a bit surprising – dare I say, unusual,” Harris said on Wednesday. “But not in this election, not in this election. Because at stake in this race are the democratic ideals that our founders and generations of Americans before us have fought for.”
Among the Republicans in attendance were former Reps. Barbara Comstock, Jim Greenwood, Mickey Edwards, Denver Riggleman, Chris Shays, David Trott, former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman along with former staffers to Sens. Mitt Romney, John McCain and former presidents George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Trump.
Speaking against a historic backdrop – near where George Washington crossed the Delaware River in the Revolutionary War – Harris on Wednesday described her GOP opponent as “increasingly unstable and unhinged.” Trump in a second term, she declared, would “sit in the Oval Office plotting retribution, stew in his own grievances and think only about himself and not you.”
“I have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution six times, including as vice president, as United States Senator and as the top law enforcement officer of the largest state in our country,” Harris said. “And I have never wavered from upholding that oath – and this is the profound difference between Donald Trump and me.”
“He who violated the oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States – and make no mistake, he who, if given the chance, will violate it again,” she continued.
Harris went on to slam the former president for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol – noting the “courage” of Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, for certifying the election results. She then blasted Trump’s comment on Sunday that the National Guard or U.S. military should be deployed against the “enemy from within” on Election Day – something her team immediately pounced on highlighting this week as she seeks to remind the American public of the rhetoric the former president regularly deployed in office.
“No matter your party, no matter who you voted for last time, there is a place for you in this campaign,” Harris said. “The coalition we have built has room for everyone who is ready to turn the page on the chaos and instability of Donald Trump.”
Harris pledged to be a president who “actively works to unite us,” reiterating her commitment to put a Republican in her Cabinet and create a bipartisan council to advise her on policy and solutions to issues.
“We have too much to do – and too much good work to do – to be relegated to requiring each of us to be in some silo, disconnected from each other,” she said, before recounting her time on the Senate Intelligence Committee, where she said the “stakes were too high” to care about partisanship.
Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack and one of Trump’s most vocal critics on the right, referred to the former president on Wednesday as a “whiny, weak, small, tiny man who is scared to death.”
Kinzinger used his remarks to describe Harris as someone who stands for the values that drew him to the Republican Party in the first place, including upholding the rule of law, democracy and the Constitution.
“And if you think those principles are worth defending, I urge you to make the conservative choice: vote for our bedrock values and vote for Kamala Harris,” he said.
Wednesday’s event was held in Bucks County – a key swing state in the biggest battleground state in the nation – near where Washington and thousands of troops crossed the Delaware River ahead of a major victory in the Revolutionary war.
Harris was introduced by Bob and Kristina Lange, two farmers from Pennsylvania who are backing Harris. Bob supported Trump in both his 2016 and 2020 runs while Kristina, Bob noted, was “ahead of the learning curve” and voted for him just once.
Bob Lange pointed to Jan. 6 as the “straw that broke the camel’s back” for him.
Harris’ campaign has made a point to attempt to reach out to moderate-GOP voters who may be turned off by Trump, launching an organizing effort named “Republicans for Harris.”
Earlier this month, Harris was joined by former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, for a campaign event in Ripon, Wisconsin, considered the birthplace of the Republican party.
Over the last few weeks, Harris has also received the backing of former Trump White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson, at least 100 GOP national security officials and a group of more than 200 Republicans affiliated with McCain, former President George W. Bush and current Utah Sen. Mitt Romney. McCain's son has also backed Harris and campaigned with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.