Vice President Harris on Friday warned voters in swing states and blue states that they could see abortion bans like those in red states if former President Trump is elected in November.
Harris went to ruby red Texas for a reproductive rights focused rally, during which she was introduced by mega superstar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. The crowd size at the rally in Houston was 30,000, which is Harris’s largest rally to date.
“For anyone watching in another state, if you think you are protected from a Trump abortion ban because you live in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York or California, please know, no one is protected if there is a Trump national abortion ban and it will outlaw abortion is every other state,” Harris said. “Understand that. And he can do that without an act of Congress. All that to say, elections matter.”
Trump said he would veto a national abortion ban earlier this month. He later said that a national abortion ban is “off the table,” but he left the door open on the conversation by saying “we’ll see what happens.”
“Texas is home to one of the most restrictive abortion bans in our country. In Texas, abortion is banned from the moment of conception,” Harris said on Friday.
Texas passed a bill in September 2021 that effectively banned abortions about six weeks into pregnancy.
“These are the stakes and we know how we got here,” Harris said, placing the blame squarely on Trump for his hand in the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
“An untold number of women and the people who love them who are silently suffering, women being made to feel they are doing something wrong as if they are criminals…we see you and we are here with you,” Harris said.
She also made a plea to the men of America, calling for their vote as a way to support the women in their lives.
“Men across America do not want to see their daughters and wives and sisters and mothers put at risk because their rights have been taken. I see the men here and I thank you,” she said. “The men of America don’t want this.”
Harris at the rally played clips of women talking about how they struggled to receive reproductive rights care in the state of Texas and cited Trump saying he did a great thing when he had a hand in overturning Roe.
“Donald Trump doesn’t trust women but I do, we trust women,” she said.
Harris gave a shout out to Gen-Z voters, who are a critical voting bloc, as Democrats are hopeful first-time voters will turn out for Harris and give her an edge over Trump, even though polls have started to show a shift toward him in recent days.
“Can we applaud our leaders who are voting for the first time,” Harris said, echoing praise she gave to young voters at a rally on Thursday in Georgia.
Harris was interrupted a few times throughout her remarks by protesters. To one she yelled out, “See ya later” and to another she said, “Just send them to the small rally down the street… some people don’t have a great sense of direction but that’s okay, we’ll show them the way.”
The vice president was introduced by Beyoncé, whose song “Freedom” plays at Harris rallies.
“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician, I’m here as a mother,” Beyonce said. “A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in. A world where we have the freedom to control our bodies. A world where we are not divided.”
“Our moment right now, it’s time for America to sing a new song,” the singer added. “Are you all ready to add your voice to the new American song. Because I am, so let’s do this.”
Singer Kelly Rowland and Tina Knowles, Beyoncé’s mother, also spoke and Willie Nelson performed at the rally.
Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), who is running to replace Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), spoke, declaring, “With y’all’s help and God’s grace, we’re going to beat Ted Cruz.”
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report ranks the Texas Senate race as “lean Republican.”
“The crowd chanted beat Ted Cruz,” and Allred replied, “You hear that Ted?”
The trip to Texas was a break in Harris’s travel primarily to swing states in the weeks before Election Day. While Democrats are viewing Cruz’s seat as a potential pickup opportunity in the Senate, Trump is leading Harris by 6.6 percentage points in Texas, according to the Decision Desk HQ/ The Hill’s polling aggregate.
