As President Joe Biden gears up for a potentially contentious 2024 presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris embarks on a fundraising tour that includes a stop in the Lone Star State.
This stop was a private donor event Tuesday afternoon in Dallas.
2024
While the increasingly crowded Republican field includes well-known politicians like former President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Biden only faces two challengers in the Democrat primary.
Marianne Williamson, an author and “spiritual advisor” who also made a bid for the Democrat nomination in 2020, was the first of Biden’s challengers to announce. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—nephew of former President John F. Kennedy—promises to “end the forever wars, clean up government, increase wealth for all, and tell Americans the truth” if elected.
Notably, all three Democrat presidential candidates are over the age of 68.
Although Biden’s chances for re-election are high as the incumbent candidate, he will still have to face the Republican nominee in November.
Fundraising and Interviews
As the general election nears, the president and other members of his administration have launched fundraising campaigns across the country.
Biden will visit Maryland, New York, Illinois, and California later this week, while First Lady Jill Biden plans to stop in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Nashville, Tennessee, to meet with donors.
Although Harris’ Texas trip did not feature any public appearances, the vice president sat down for an interview about abortion with MSNBC’s Joy Reid on her show “The ReidOut.”
In a teaser for the interview, Reid condemned the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, saying, “It is hard to imagine an issue that impacts so many, and so personally, than the right and freedom to make choices about your own body.”
Reid said her discussion with Harris will cover “what a path to federal protections could actually look like and why abortion rights will define the 2024 election and beyond.”
Harris has historically supported loosening abortion restrictions and decried the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year.
Past Trips
Harris visited Texas last year to deliver the keynote address for the Texas Democratic Party’s annual Johnson-Jordan Reception, but she failed to recognize the humanitarian crisis along the southern border.
In March 2021, President Joe Biden appointed Harris as his administration’s “border czar” and tasked her with finding ways to alleviate the border crisis and work with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to fix problems causing illegal aliens to seek entry into the United States.
However, some criticized Harris for traveling to Texas and not acknowledging the illegal immigration crisis.
At the time, U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (TX-11) voiced concerns to the New York Post, questioning Harris’ decision to fundraise for the Democrats in Texas without seeing the southern border.
“The only place ‘Border Czar’ VP Kamala Harris should be visiting in Texas is the disaster-area formerly known as the US-Mexico border,” said Pfluger. “It is unbelievable that this administration has the gall to face the people of Texas who they have abandoned and ask for money.”
Harris has no plans to stop at the southern border during her June 2023 Texas fundraising trip.
