Kamala Harris used a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Friday to question whether she has the stamina to serve as president for a second term if voters choose Donald Trump over her in the November election. reported that Donald Trump is canceling media interviews in order to
“If he can’t handle the rigors of campaigning, is he the right person to do the job?” the 59-year-old Democratic vice president told rallygoers about the 78-year-old Trump.
“Trump is unfit for public office,” she said.
Harris and her Republican opponent were in Michigan at the start of the weekend, trying to shore up support in the battleground state that will decide the Nov. 5 election. Opinion polls show that Michigan, as well as fellow “blue wall” states Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, remained strong for both candidates in the final stages of the campaign.
“This is where elections are decided,” Democratic Rep. Hilary Scholten told the audience at the beginning of Friday’s event.
Some Harris supporters in the crowd also sounded hopeful. Jennifer Lake said, “The time has come for women to become leaders.” She brought her daughter, Adeline Butts, to the rally and had the opportunity to “watch history being made.”
Butts, who will be old enough to vote for the first time in this election, said her main concerns are the cost of living, tuition and housing affordability. Bill Bray, who attended the rally from Adrian, Michigan, said he believes Harris will promote economic opportunity for people like him better than Trump.
Although he grew up in a “poor neighborhood,” Bray said he was doing well thanks to his previous military service and a long career at Ford Motor Company. He said he wants to give others a chance to follow the same path.
“Trump doesn’t understand equality,” said Bray, a Vietnam War veteran, criticizing the former president for dodging the draft to serve in the Vietnam War.
Bray also supports stricter federal gun regulations because of “the impact guns have on people,” and said he doesn’t believe President Trump, who has widespread support from the firearms industry, is taking the issue seriously. He said he did not.
Other attendees said access to abortion was a top priority. Harris fought to preserve access to abortion, and three Trump appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court helped eliminate federal abortion rights in 2022.
Kim Osbourne said, “I hope I can regain control of my body, but then I’ll think about listening to what the other person has to say.”
Lauren Rockel said she wants to see Harris fight to restore Roe v. Wade protections that Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices helped strip away.
“People are dying” as a result of abortion regulations that have since been enacted in many states, Rockel said. “That’s terrible.”
“It’s time to turn the page,” Harris told them about Trump.
Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer spoke before Harris took the stage. Four other Democratic governors also joined her.
Her presence and the presence of other governors “shows you, Michigan, how important you are,” Whitmer said. She told the crowd that if they helped send Harris to the White House, they would “move our country forward.”
Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan also spoke before Harris, insinuating that the more she thinks about the policies proposed by Trump’s supporters, the more she gets “scary.” The former president has sought to distance himself from the far-right Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 plan calls for mass layoffs of public servants and praises the idea of completely outlawing abortion during Trump’s second term.
But Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, who also wrote the foreword to the Heritage Foundation’s president’s book, has struggled to do so effectively. And, echoing Stabenow’s words, many in attendance said they feared and feared what President Trump’s return to the Oval Office would bring.
The Democratic candidate’s message resonated with Richard Bandstra, a self-described “former Republican.” Bandstra said he came to the rally to hear a message of hope and to fight to protect what he called the most important issue of race: American democracy.
