Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz packed an Arizona arena to the rafters on Friday, in the largest swing-state rally since the vice president assumed the top of the ticket, calling attention to the massive building enthusiasm for the campaign.
Drawing nearly 20,000 Arizonans to the Glendale, Arizona stadium despite 105-degree weather, the rally was in sharp contrast to Donald Trump and JD Vance’s recent crowds, which made for great social media fodder.
Walz, on the tail end of his first week on the campaign trail after visits to Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, told the crowd at one point that he had “been told, by the way, [that the rally] might be the largest political gathering in the history of Arizona.”
Trump, who falsely boasted on Thursday that his crowd on Jan. 6 was larger than Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, was headlining his own rally in the deep-red state of Montana, his sole rally of the week.
The rally, addressed by Arizonan Democrats including Senator Mark Kelly, Rep. Ruben Gallego, and Attorney General Kris Mayes, as well as Mesa Mayor and Republicans for Harris chair John Giles, also marked the vice president’s first visit to Arizona as the Democratic presidential nominee.
Harris’ speech focused on policies like climate change and reproductive care, honing in on Trump’s wavering commitment to upholding mifepristone access.
Harris also celebrated the campaign’s progress but emphasized that despite polling and momentum, Democrats were “the underdog” in the race.
Having taken on some scrutiny for her sharp response to an interruption at a Michigan rally earlier this week, Harris at one point addressed pro-Palestinian disruptors by emphasizing the need for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“We are here to fight for our democracy, which includes respecting the voices that I think that we are hearing from,” she said, engaging with protestors. “Now is the time to get a ceasefire deal and get the hostage deal done . . . I respect your voices, but we are here to now talk about this race in 2024.”