During a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, President Donald Trump and his running mate Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) launched a series of attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris, focusing on her support for the Minnesota Freedom Fund and her handling of the southern border crisis.
Trump criticized Harris for promoting the Minnesota Freedom Fund during the 2020 riots, a fund that helped bail out individuals who later committed more crimes. “I sent in the National Guard to save Minneapolis while Kamala Harris sided with the arsonists and rioters and raised money to bail out the criminals,” Trump said.
Vance reinforced Trump’s critique, highlighting the potential dangers of Harris’s stance on bail reform. “Kamala wants to end cash bail, and what that means is that if you assault a police officer, you can be back on the street the very next day,” he said. Vance also noted, “When rioters and looters were burning American cities to the ground, including Minneapolis, Kamala Harris was raising money to bail them out of jail.”
Vance emphasized the large sums raised by the Minnesota Freedom Fund, aided by Harris’s support. “She helped a group of anti-cop extremists raise more than $40 million dollars to free scores of criminals right here in Minnesota,” he pointed out.
Trump and Vance also targeted Harris’s performance as the “border czar,” criticizing her for the ongoing border crisis. “Kamala Harris’s deadly destruction of America’s borders is completely and totally disqualifying for her to be president,” Trump asserted. “The one job Kamala had was the border. That’s the only job, but it was the biggest disaster in border history.”
Using a striking metaphor, Trump said, “People in other countries could use sticks and stones to secure a better border than Harris has in the US.”
The rally demonstrated the campaign’s focus on Harris’s perceived shortcomings and their strategy to mobilize supporters by addressing issues of crime and border security. The enthusiastic response from the audience highlighted the resonance of these themes with Trump and Vance’s base.
