Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Vote 2024. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — While his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz continued their campaign bus tour in rural Georgia, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff made a campaign stop in Grand Rapids, Mich.
The second gentleman, making his first campaign appearance since last week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, described his wife, the current vice president of the United States and the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee, to the audience of 250 as the “joyful warrior, who’s as tough as they come; who’s already a world leader.”
He touched on several themes from Harris’s nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, including her telling the convention that in her long career she had only had one client: the people.
“As attorney general of California, her approach has been that if it’s not fair, there have to be consequences. So if opportunistic companies are taking advantage of a crisis to rip off customers, she’s going to find them and she’s going to stop them. This is not ideological. If someone is ripping us off, it has to stop and she’s going to stop it. It’s not ideological, it’s practical,” Emhoff said.
“Honesty is good for the economy. When they took on the big banks, it was because people were being ripped off, plain and simple, losing their homes, and that had to be addressed,” he continued.
Emhoff stressed that the Biden-Harris administration pushed the Infrastructure Reduction Act through Congress, bringing money and jobs to Michigan.
“Michigan is number one in the country for investments from the Infrastructure Reduction Act. Over $26 billion in new federal investment and over 21,000 good-paying jobs. It supports entrepreneurs, helps manufacturers expand, expands the pie and invests in the middle class. All of this is important and this is all she talks about. But just like in business, these goals are only practical if they are coupled with confidence and character in this election, and when it comes to those measures, there is no confidence in character on one side: Kamala and Tim; not so much on the other side,” Emhoff said.
Before Emhoff spoke, Gina Raimondo, former Rhode Island governor and current U.S. Department of Commerce official, spoke. The audience was told she was only there in her personal capacity, not in an official capacity.
Raimondo said she married a man from Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, 24 years ago and loves going to Michigan when she can. She said she came to the rally to support Kamala Harris’ candidacy because she admires her as a public servant.
“She was called to public service because she wanted to fight for people who had no voice. She wanted to stand up for people who needed a lawyer. She did that and she does that and she will do that as your president,” Raimondo said.
Additionally, Rep. Hillary Scholten, a Democrat representing Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, and Rep. Phil Skaggs of Michigan, a member of the 80th District, spoke about the need to work hard if Democrats want to win in November.
Emhoff left Grand Rapids and went to Ketchum, Idaho, where he attended a fund-raiser.
About the Author: “Levi “Calm Before the Storm” Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded the 2021 Native Media Award for Best Column in the print/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net.”
Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
