Akayla Gardner | (TNS) Bloomberg News
WASHINGTON — Raucous crowds, musical guests and grand entrances: Kamala Harris’ campaign events are looking a lot like Donald Trump’s.
As Harris, the new Democratic nominee, barnstorms the country, her rallies have increasingly taken on the atmosphere once seen at Trump’s signature events — highlighting the divergent fortunes for the two presidential campaigns in recent weeks.
The vice president’s ascent to the top of the ticket has seen a surge in enthusiasm from Democrats fully on display at her rallies, while Trump this week has largely been off the trail, relying instead on news conferences and interviews to seize the spotlight.
Harris’ swing-state blitz took her to Wisconsin on Wednesday, where she held a rally outdoors — the first time either of the two presidential candidates have done so since the failed assassination attempt on Trump last month.
Parallels with the showcase features of Trump’s rallies, which defined his first run for the presidency in 2016 and were a moneymaker for his operation, were apparent — streams of people and cars lined up, a packed crowd in place hours before the candidates arrived, and loud, upbeat music to rile up an already ebullient audience.
Harris has been taking the stage to speakers blaring pop superstar Beyonce’s song with rapper Kendrick Lamar, Freedom – similar to how Trump has long appeared before audiences to country singer Lee Greenwood’s iconic God Bless the USA. Songs by groundbreaking female artists such as Diana Ross and Whitney Houston have been played regularly at events for a candidate who is seeking to become the first Black woman and Asian-American president in U.S. history.
One-upping their GOP rivals, the Democratic campaign has trotted out live acts. Wisconsin eventgoers were treated to a performance by folk rock band Bon Iver, who donned a camouflage cap emblazoned with the names of Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Past rallies have seen rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Quavo take the stage in Atlanta and in Philadelphia the audience was kept on its feet by local artist DJ Diamond Cuts.
At a Wednesday rally in Detroit, Harris took another page from Trump’s once emblematic, showy rallies – pulling up in her plane. As Harris and Walz walked off Air Force Two, 15,000 people cheered from an open-air hanger. The attendance, shared by the campaign, marked the largest of Harris’ run.
While Trump rallies are a sea of red, with supporters donning hats, shirts and signs with his “Make America Great Again” slogan — Harris’ campaign has sought to match him in showcasing themes of Americana — decking out their events with red, white and blue signage for their candidate. A camouflage cap the campaign offered sold out online Tuesday in 30 minutes after Walz shared a photo of himself wearing it.
In Philadelphia, Harris’ team also handed out blinking wristbands with red, white and blue bulbs — similar to the bands that became a spectacle at pop star Taylor Swift’s concerts, where they were used to create stunning light shows.
And Harris’ own stump speech has been heavy on patriotic themes — touching on her life story and Walz’s and the unique nature of a ticket that pairs the Oakland-born child of immigrants with a running mate who grew up as a Nebraska farm boy.
The rallies are also a sharp contrast with the often subdued events President Joe Biden held during his campaign — staid, sparsely attended speeches on the economy or protecting democratic norms, generally lacking an aura of excitement.
And in a show of party unity, Democrats once seen as potential replacements for Biden have been given top billing, including Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.
The co-opting of Trump’s campaign stylebook comes at a pivotal point in the race with the candidates facing a three-month sprint to Election Day. Harris’ swing-state tour is aimed at capitalizing on a wave of momentum that has seen her erase Trump’s polling lead and overtake him in the critical money race.
Alongside the rallies have been more traditional campaign events. On Thursday, Harris and Walz visited a union hall outside Detroit joined by United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, where they met with rank-and-file labor members. Winning over those voters will be crucial in states such as Michigan.
“The true strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down, it’s based on who you lift up,” Harris said.
While there’s growing similarities, differences remain. Where crowds at Trump rallies regularly chanted “lock her up” in reference to his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton, crowds at Harris events have responded with “lock him up,” mocking the first former president to be convicted of a felony. But in contrast to Trump, Harris has sought to tamp down those chants.
When the crowd took up the refrain Wednesday in Wisconsin, Harris told supporters “hold on.”
“The courts are going to handle that part of it. What we’re gonna do is beat him in November,” she said to cheers.
The Harris rally crowds also trend younger and more diverse — but lack the roving groups of Trump loyalists like the “Front Row Joes” who seek to attend each of the former president’s rallies and provide regular fodder for back-and-forths with the candidate. At recent events, Trump has marveled at what the husbands of a devoted pack of female superfans who have attended dozens of rallies must think.
But Walz has also looked to add an element of audience engagement. After delivering a sharp attack on Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, during a rally in Philadelphia that left the crowd roaring, Walz grinned and offered: “You see what I did there?”
The vice president, however, rarely strays from the teleprompter at her events and has kept her speeches short, allowing her to copy Trump’s showmanship without venturing into gaffes.
But like Trump, whose own stump speech is full of stock lines known to animate his base, she’s settled on a number of crowd-pleasing hits.
Harris regularly references her career as a prosecutor who took on “perpetrators of all kinds” and who knows “Donald Trump’s type,” putting the spotlight on the former president’s many legal woes. And her phrase “we’re not going back” – a pointed rebuttal to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan – is often chanted by attendees.
The events have also not always been pristinely choreographed showcases. In Detroit, Harris was interrupted by hecklers critical of the administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
After the demonstration continued, Harris addressed the demonstrators directly, saying, “You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”
(Josh Wingrove and María Paula Mijares Torres contributed to this report.)
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