By Trevor Hunnicutt, Gabriella Borter and Georgina McCartney
HOUSTON (Reuters) -Kamala Harris and Donald Trump took a detour from barnstorming the battleground states that may resolve November’s election with Friday stops in Texas, a conservative state that was the primary to implement a near-total abortion ban.
Texas hasn’t backed a Democratic president since 1976, and Republican Trump is nearly sure to win the state’s 40 electoral faculty votes.
However Democrats are betting it is going to present a strong backdrop for Vice President Harris to speak about abortion rights within the ultimate days earlier than the Nov. 5 election.
Famous person singer Beyonce, who was born in Houston, fired up the group by introducing Harris, who got here on stage to a recording of Beyonce’s tune “Freedom,” which has made her marketing campaign anthem. She didn’t sing nevertheless.
Harris spoke concerning the hazard former President Trump and Republicans may current to abortion rights throughout the nation if he is elected, a marketing campaign supply stated, and be joined by girls who’ve suffered after Texas’ anti-abortion laws have been handed and their relations.
“Texas, what is happening across this state and our country is a health care crisis, and Donald Trump is the architect of it,” Harris stated.
Texas carried out a first-of-its variety regulation in September 2021 that banned abortion after six weeks and allowed anybody to sue abortion sufferers in violation and those that assisted them.
The U.S. Supreme Courtroom, with a conservative majority fashioned by Trump’s judicial appointments, allowed the regulation to face, after which gutted federal abortion rights by overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
In between private tales of abortion-related tragedy, and earlier than Beyonce took the stage, the rally took on the air of a dance social gathering, with individuals swaying and singing alongside to a DJ.
Whereas Beyonce appealed to a youthful crowd, 91-year-old Willie Nelson confirmed earlier within the occasion that he nonetheless has cachet in his native Texas.
“Are we ready to say Madam President?” Nelson requested the group earlier than launching into “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” to which the viewers sang alongside.
He closed with “On the Road Again”
Trump was additionally campaigning in Texas on Friday, making a cease in Austin to report an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” a preferred podcaster with tens of thousands and thousands of social media followers, most of them males.
After a three-hour interview with Rogan in Texas, Trump arrived late to a rally in battleground state Michigan.
“We’ve got a war going and she’s out partying,” Trump stated Friday evening, a reference to Israel’s assaults on Iran.
In his interview with Rogan, Trump once more recommended he favored eliminating earnings tax and changing the misplaced income with tariffs.
“Did you just float out the idea of getting rid of income taxes and replacing it with tariffs? Are we serious about that,” Rogan requested.
“Yeah, sure. Why not?” Trump replied.
Harris’ group had been in contact with Rogan’s program a few potential look, however scheduling didn’t line up, spokesperson Ian Sams stated on MSNBC on Thursday.
Trump has misplaced floor with girls voters since Harris turned the Democratic candidate, polls present, though the 2 are in a good race within the battleground states.
Harris led Trump by 49% to 36%, or 13 share factors, amongst girls voters in a Reuters/Ipsos ballot revealed late in August, in comparison with her 9-point lead in polls carried out in July.
Trump has taken credit score for appointing the justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade.
Since successful the Republican main earlier this yr nevertheless, he has sought the assist of average and impartial voters, saying he wouldn’t assist a nationwide ban on abortions and that particular person states needs to be free to limit abortion as they select.
He known as for exceptions on any ban to incorporate incidents of rape and incest or to guard the well being of the mom. Nonetheless, Trump stated in August he would vote towards an modification in his house state of Florida to guard abortion rights that may raise a six week abortion ban, earlier than many ladies know they’re pregnant.
The vast majority of Individuals disagreed with the Supreme Courtroom’s overturning of Roe, which fueled a wave of Democratic wins within the 2022 midterm elections and left Republicans scrambling to discover a successful message on the problem.
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Texas Democratic Senate candidate Colin Allred additionally attended Harris’ rally, as Democrats sought to offer him a lift in his bid to unseat Republican Senator Ted Cruz.
Harris led the Biden administration’s reproductive rights initiatives and has made the problem a cornerstone of her presidential marketing campaign.
Democrats have highlighted private tales to indicate the affect of abortion being virtually solely banned in 16 states.
Forward of the Houston journey, her marketing campaign launched an advert that includes a Texas girl who was denied an emergency abortion when her water broke at 16 weeks in 2022 and who then virtually died of sepsis.
An evaluation by JAMA Pediatrics, a medical journal, discovered that Texas noticed a bigger improve in toddler mortality than the remainder of the U.S. after implementing the abortion ban, and early experiences point out that Texas has additionally seen a major improve in maternal deaths.
