GREEN BAY, Wis. — Vice President Kamala Harris criticized former President Donald Trump Thursday evening, chiding him for calling himself “the father of IVF.”
“He continually refuses to acknowledge the damage he has caused. See for yourself, let’s play a movie,” Harris said.
Then, in front of a crowd of more than 4,000 people in this critical state of conflict, a series of video clips of Trump were played on a giant screen, where he praised himself for destroying the protection of abortion rights set forth in Roe v. Wade.
The crowd argued and cried at each of the segments, which ended with a Fox News town hall in which Trump answered questions from women.
“Sometimes it just becomes more incredible. Now he calls himself the father of IVF? What does that actually mean?” Harris said incredulously, adding, “By the way, he’s the one responsible for putting it at risk in the first place.”
Then several women in the crowd were seen turning to each other, nodding and expressing their agreement.
“It’s about to get even more incredible,” someone was heard saying.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After the meeting, the woman said Harris’ comments resonated with her.
“I’m so tired of his lies,” she said, noting that she supported Harris’ policies. She did not want to give her name, she said, because she lives in a “divided family” – her husband supports Trump.
Rallygoer Linda Patzke of Pittsfield, Wisconsin, called reproductive rights one of the most motivating issues of the election, along with public education and the environment. Patzke, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, said she was tired of what she thought was a double standard, with the government wanting to intervene in women’s health choices.
“Where does the man take responsibility for his role?” she said. “Where is the man ever held to the same standard?”
A senior campaign official said Harris would increasingly use her rallies as a platform to remind women that Trump’s first-term actions were responsible for abortion bans across the country. The official added that she would also highlight what the person described as Trump’s unhinged comments.
Harris is regularly the strongest among women. In the latter part of the race, survey after survey has shown that Harris and Trump are neck and neck. Wisconsin remains on a knife’s edge. A Marquette Law School poll released Wednesday found the two in a dead heat.
Harris’ visit to Green Bay on Thursday was the last of three stops in Wisconsin, after she held events in LaCrosse and Milwaukee with billionaire businessman Mark Cuban.
In between developing her own policy proposals, Harris spoke to Trump on other issues, including when he was recently asked at a town hall about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“What did Donald Trump say? He called it ‘a day of love,'” Harris said with a groan. “The American people are exhausted by his gaslighting. We are ready to turn the page!”
Then chants broke out in the crowd: “We’re not going back.”
At one point, highlighting a new policy proposal, Harris spoke about family members who were caregivers of the elderly, underscoring the importance of them being treated with “dignity” in their later years. She specifically mentioned the “sandwich generation”: families who are financially strapped because they can’t afford home care for their parents unless they withdraw all their savings to qualify for Medicaid.
“Instead, we’re going to have Medicare cover home health care for those people,” she said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
