Harris cast herself as a friend to people of Puerto Rican descent, appealing to voters who were put off by a comedian’s insulting joke about the island during Trump’s rally last month in New York.
Harris opened her 20-minute appearance in this Hispanic-majority city by assuring voters she has a “long-standing commitment to Puerto Rico” and that, if elected, “will be a president for all Americans.”
She did not mention Trump by name, nor did she refer to the comedian’s depiction of Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.” But she and others delivered a message that Hispanic voters in particular need to reject Trump.
One of the speakers warming up the crowd was Fat Joe, an American rapper. Leaning on the lectern at Muhlenberg College, he recounted some of what happened at the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden.
“It was filled with so much hate,” he said. “My Latinos, where is your pride?”
Harris’ appearance was part of a multicity blitz across Pennsylvania, a pivotal swing state whose 19 electoral votes are key to her chances.
“This is it,” she told a jubilant crowd in the school gymnasium. “Just one more day. One more day left in one of the most consequential elections in our lifetime, and momentum is on our side. Can you feel it? We have momentum.”
Since she entered the race in July, Harris has portrayed herself as the underdog. But on the eve of Election Day, she sounded a bolder, more confident note.
“Make no mistake; we will win,” she said.
As the campaign winds down, Harris has avoided speaking Trump’s name in hope of ending on a more positive note. Yet she worked in a few swipes at him, nonetheless. Invoking Trump’s focus on people he dislikes, she said, “When I walk into the White House, instead of stewing over an enemies list I will spend every day working on my to-do list.”
