ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� Vice President said Saturday that Republican former President Donald Trump was 鈥渃ruel鈥� for how he talked about the grieving family of a Georgia mother who died after waiting 20 hours for a hospital to treat her complications from an abortion pill, as she put combating restrictions on reproductive care at the center of her pitch to voters.
At a rally in Atlanta, Harris blamed Amber Thurman鈥檚 death on Georgia's abortion restrictions that took effect after the Supreme Court in 2022, with three Trump-appointed justices, overturned Roe v. Wade. It comes as Harris is looking to the issue to propel support to Democrats, who have pledged to restore a national right to abortion if they win the White House and enough seats in Congress.
鈥淒onald Trump still refuses to take accountability, to take any accountability, for the pain and the suffering he has caused," Harris said.
Thurman' story features at the center of one of Harris' closing campaign ads, and her family attended her Atlanta rally, with her mother holding a photo of her daughter from the audience. Harris showed a clip of Trump saying during a recent Fox News Channel town hall, when he was asked about the Thurman family joining a separate media call, 鈥淲e鈥檒l get better ratings, I promise.鈥�
鈥淎 grieving family, a grieving family, sharing the memory of their daughter with our nation. Where is the compassion?" she asked. 鈥淲hat we see continually from Donald Trump is exactly what that clip shows," Harris added. "He belittles their sorrow, making it about himself and his television ratings. It is cruel."
Before Harris became the Democratic nominee, Ian Summer, 19, planned on voting against Trump 鈥� but he wasn鈥檛 enthusiastic about President Joe Biden. Since Harris stepped into the race 鈥渟he鈥檚 brought great energy,鈥� Summer said. Summer is worried about restrictions on abortion access under Trump. 鈥淭he fact that I could have a wife in the future that may not be able to receive the care that she needs, that鈥檚 a very scary thing,鈥� he said.
Early voting is also underway in Georgia. More than 1.2 million ballots have been cast, either in person or by mail. Democrats hope an expansive organizing effort will boost Harris against Trump in the campaign鈥檚 final weeks. Harris referenced that former President Jimmy Carter recently voted by mail days after his 100th birthday.
鈥淚f Jimmy Carter can vote early, you can too,鈥� Harris said.
Roderick Williams, 56, brought his three daughters to Harris鈥� Atlanta rally. His youngest daughter was born around the time former President Barack Obama entered office, and he hopes they can witness history again by seeing Harris become the first Black woman to be president.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important for them to see that anything鈥檚 possible,鈥� Williams said.
Harris was joined at the rally by hometown music icon Usher, drawing again on star power as she looks to excite voters to the polls. Earlier Saturday she appeared with Lizzo on Saturday in the singer's hometown of Detroit, marking the beginning of in-person voting and lavishing the city with praise after Trump recently .
鈥淎ll the best things were made in Detroit. Coney Dogs, Faygo and Lizzo,鈥� the singer joked to a rally crowd, pointing to herself after listing off the hot dogs and soda that the city is famous for.
She said it was time to 鈥減ut some respect on Detroit鈥檚 name鈥� noting that the city had revolutionized the auto and music industries and adding that she'd already cast her ballot for Harris since voting early was 鈥渁 power move.鈥�
Heaps of praise for the Motor City came after , the former president, insulted it during a recent campaign stop. And Harris continued the theme, saying of her campaign, "Like the people of Detroit, we have grit, we have excellence, we have history.鈥�
Arms wide open as she took the stage, Harris let the crowd see she was wearing under her blazer a 鈥淒etroit vs. Everybody鈥� T-shirt that the owner of the business that produces them gave her during a previous stop in the city earlier in the week. She also moved around the stage during her speech with a hand-held mic, not using a teleprompter.
More than 1 million residents have already voted by mail in the Nov. 5 election, and Harris predicted that Detroit turnout for early voting would be strong.
鈥淲ho is the capital of producing records?" Harris asked when imploring the crowd to set new highs for early voting tallies. "We are going to break some records here in Detroit today.鈥�
She slammed Trump as unstable: 鈥淪omebody just needs to watch his rallies, if you鈥檙e not really sure how to vote.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to get these 17 days back. On Election Day, we don鈥檛 want to have any regrets," the vice president said.
Lizzo also told the crowd, "Mrs. Commander-in-Chief has a nice ring to it.鈥�
鈥淭his is the swing state of all swing states, so every last vote here counts," the singer said. Then, referencing her song of the same title, Lizzo added, 鈥淚f you ask me if America is ready for its first woman president, I only have one thing to say: 鈥淚t鈥檚 about damn time!鈥�
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement that Harris needed Lizzo 鈥渢o hide the fact that Michiganders were feeling good under President Trump 鈥� real wages were higher, prices were lower, and everyone was better off.鈥�
Talona Johnson, a product manager from Rochester, Michigan, attended Harris鈥� rally and said that Harris 鈥渁nd her team are doing the things that are required to make sure that people are informed."
鈥淚 believe she鈥檚 telling the truth. She鈥檚 trying to help the people," said Johnson, who said she planned to vote for Harris and saw women鈥檚 rights as her top concern.
"I don鈥檛 necessarily agree with everything that she鈥檚 put out, but she鈥檚 better than the alternative,鈥�
In comments to reporters before the rally, Harris said she was in Detroit 鈥渢o thank all the folks for the work they are doing to help organize and register people to vote, and get them out to vote today. She also called Detroit 鈥渁 great American city鈥� with 鈥渁 lot of hard-working folks that have grit and ambition and deserve to be respected.鈥�
The vice president was asked about whether the Biden administration's full-throated support for Israel in its might hurt her support in Michigan. Dearborn, near Detroit, is the largest city with an Arab majority in the nation.
鈥淚t has never been easy," Harris said of Middle East policy. "But that doesn鈥檛 mean we give up.鈥�
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Associated Press writers Matt Brown in Detroit, Charlotte Kramon in Atlanta and Will Weissert and Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.
Chris Megerian And Charlotte Kramon, The Associated Press
