Kamala Harris begins campaign, vows to stop abortion ban

United States Vice President, Kamala Harris, on Tuesday, vowed to put a stop to the abortion ban and help restore reproductive freedoms.

“And we who believe in reproductive freedom will stop Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do,” Harris told a cheering crowd.

“And when Congress passes a law to restore reproductive freedoms as president of the United States, I will sign it into law,” she said at her first presidential campaign rally in Wisconsin, CNN reported.

Reproductive rights are likely to be a hot issue in the election season.

In April, the Associated Press reported that Trump said he believed abortion limits should be left to the states, outlining his position in a video in which he declined to endorse a national ban after months of mixed messages and speculation.

“Many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion rights,” Trump said in the video posted on his Truth Social site. “My view is now that we have an abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state.”

Trump, in the video, did not say when in pregnancy he believed abortion should be banned — declining to endorse a national cutoff that would have been used as a cudgel by Democrats ahead of the November election.

Harris also rolled out some of the issues she would be committed to if elected, including addressing gun violence.

“Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency,” she said as she highlighted other issues, including workers’ freedom to join a union, affordable health care, affordable child care, paid family leave, retirement with dignity, every American’s right to vote, safety from gun violence: red flag laws, and universal background checks and assault weapons bans.

On Tuesday, Trump said Harris would be “easier” to beat in the November election than President Joe Biden.

“She’s far more radical than he (Biden) is, so I think she should be easier than Biden because he was slightly more mainstream, but not much,” Trump said on a call with reporters.

According to AFP, Trump, who is running to return to the White House, pledged to take part in at least one presidential debate with Harris.

“Oh, yes, absolutely. I want to. I think it’s important,” he said on the call, adding that “I would be willing to do more than one debate, actually.”

Meanwhile, Trump said on Tuesday his presumptive Democratic opponent Kamala Harris would be “easier” to beat in November’s election than President Joe Biden.

“She’s far more radical than he (Biden) is, so I think she should be easier than Biden because he was slightly more mainstream, but not much,” Trump said on a call with reporters.

According to AFP, Trump, who is running to return to the White House, pledged to take part in at least one presidential debate with Harris.

“Oh, yes, absolutely. I want to. I think it’s important,” he said on the call, adding that “I would be willing to do more than one debate, actually.”

Harris hit the US campaign trail on Tuesday after effectively clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, heading to the battleground state of Wisconsin to address citizens.

The vice president took just 36 hours to secure enough delegates to be nominated, moving with lightning speed after President Joe Biden’s exit from the race triggered one of the largest election upheavals in modern US history.

Top Democratic congressional chiefs – Senator Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries – threw their weight behind her in a press conference.

Hollywood star George Clooney – who made waves earlier this month as one of the first high-profile Democratic activists to urge Biden to drop his reelection bid – also said he was now behind 59-year-old Harris’s campaign to face Trump in November.

Biden stunned the world by dropping his reelection bid on Sunday, bowing to weeks of pressure after a disastrous debate performance against Trump.

Having made the announcement in a social media post while recovering from Covid at his Delaware beach house, Biden has yet to speak at length about his decision.

AFP reports that Biden was due back at the White House Tuesday after his doctor said he was now all clear from Covid. Biden announced he would deliver a primetime speech from the Oval Office on Wednesday about “what lies ahead.”