By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and BILL BARROW, Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — On the last Sunday before Election Day, Democrat Kamala Harris said God offers a “divine plan strong enough to heal division” and urged voters not to be fooled by Donald Trump’s disparagement of the electoral system that he falsely claims is rigged against him.
The vice president offered the latest iteration of her closing argument in Michigan, where she began her day at the pulpit of a Black church in Detroit. From there, she embarked on multiple additional stops in the state, part of the Democratic “blue wall” in the Midwest considered her smoothest potential path to an Electoral College majority.
Harris avoided direct mention of Trump during her 11-minute talk at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ. But her comments nonetheless served as a clear juxtaposition with the former president and Republican nominee.
“There are those who seek to deepen division, sow hate, spread fear and cause chaos,” she said. She spoke at the same time Trump was in Pennsylvania declaring the U.S. a “failed nation” and saying that he “shouldn’t have left” the White House after the 2020 election, which he denies losing to Democrat Joe Biden.
As Trump referred to Harris’ party as “demonic,” Harris quoted the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah and told her friendly audience she saw “a nation determined to turn the page on hate and division and chart a new way forward,”
After the service, Harris pushed back at Trump’s characterizations of U.S. elections, telling reporters that his comments are “meant to distract from the fact that we have and support free and fair elections in our country.” Those “good systems” were in place in 2020, Harris said, and “he lost.”
The vice president said she trusts the upcoming vote tally and urged voters, “in particular people who have not yet voted to not fall for this tactic, which I think includes suggesting to people that if they vote, their vote won’t matter.”
Separately, Harris nodded to the significant population of Arab Americans in Michigan, many of whom are angry at the Biden administration for its continuation of the U.S. alliance with Israel as the Netanyahu government presses its war against Hamas in Gaza.
“I have been very clear that the level of death of innocent Palestinians is unconscionable,” Harris told reporters. “We need to end the war, and we need to get the hostages out. And as president of the United States, I will do everything in my power to achieve that end.”
Harris, who is Baptist, has addressed a Black congregation each of the last four Sundays — a nod to how important Black voters are in Michigan and several other battleground states.
After church, Harris greeted customers and picked up lunch at Kuzzo’s Chicken and Waffles, where she had collard greens at the Detroit restaurant owned by former Detroit Lions player Ron Bartell, a Detroit native. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, among other officials, joined Harris for the stop. Later, Harris stopped by Elam Barber Shop, a Black-owned business in Pontiac, where she took part in a moderated conversation with local leaders and Black men.
Michigan, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, is critical to Harris’ fortunes. Barack Obama swept the region in 2008 and 2012. But Trump flipped Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in 2016, prompting considerable criticism from Democrats who said nominee Hillary Clinton took the states for granted. Biden returned the three to the Democrats’ column in 2020.
Losing any of the three would put pressure on Harris to notch victories among the four Sun Belt battleground states: North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.
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