PHILADELPHIA — PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Gabrielle GiffordsThe former Democratic congresswoman who was seriously injured in a 2011 shooting in her Arizona district began campaigning Thursday for Vice President Kamala Harris, as Harris’s nascent presidential campaign takes off and a parallel campaign to be a running mate Harris ticket takes shape.
Giffords, speaking at Salt & The Light church in the swing state of Pennsylvania met with community activists in a predominantly black section of Philadelphia hit recently by gun violence, including one during the weekend in which three people were killed and at least six others were injured.
The event had long been planned, Giffords aides said, long before Giffords’ husband, the U.S. senator. Marco Kelly of Arizona and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro joined the conversation to be Harris’ running mate now that President Joe Biden has ended his re-election bid and endorsed Harris.
Giffords spoke briefly about her long recovery from the 2011 shooting that killed six people during a meeting with voters at a Tucson supermarket. Other Harris surrogates, including Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton, have framed the November presidential race as a choice between Harris, who would sign an assault weapons ban, and more gun violence under Republican Donald Trump, who supports gun rights groups.
“We are overwhelmed with violence across America, from rural Pennsylvania to inner-city neighborhoods like where we are today,” McClinton said. “We as voters can make the decision to have a more violent America or safer communities in all parts of America. ”
McClinton — a Shapiro ally in the Pennsylvania State House who has been rooting on social media for him to join Harris’ ticket — and Giffords dismissed questions about the potential for Kelly or Shapiro to be Harris’ pick.
Asked if she was thinking about becoming second lady, Giffords said, “later, later.” For his part, McClinton said “I’m not making those decisions,” but then singled out Shapiro as a “people’s champion when it comes to public safety issues” while calling Kelly someone “we all hold in high regard.” .”
Harris is beginning to vet about a dozen people for the vice presidential nomination, two people familiar with the matter told the Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential process.
Giffords’ event in Philadelphia on Thursday — just a few miles from Shapiro’s home in neighboring Montgomery County — had long been planned, Giffords’ aides said.
Still, it won’t be Harris’ last campaign event where her vice presidential pick is a hot topic, or where potential vice presidents campaign for Harris in a state both sides have said they should win in November. .
On Monday, Shapiro and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer were scheduled to headline a Harris campaign rally in suburban Philadelphia, while in North Carolina on Thursday, Governor Roy Cooper spoke about the many visits by Harris as vice president to the swing state won by Trump. in 2016 and 2020.
Cooper and Whitmer are also being considered to join the ticket.
Cooper, speaking in downtown Raleigh, said “there are a lot of good people” Harris could choose as her running mate, but he would not directly address his prospects of joining her ticket.
“There are many people she can choose from. She will make the right choice,” Cooper said after listing why she supported Harris for president. “I just want her to choose the person who gives her the best chance of winning. And there will be many factors involved in this,” Cooper added.
Cooper criticized Trump’s vice presidential pick in Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, saying, “It’s quite clear that Donald Trump chose someone in his own image – a sort of Mini-Me” – a reference to a smaller clone of ” Dr. Evil” in the “Austin Powers” film franchise.
Another leading candidate, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, deflected questions at his regular news conference at the state Capitol on Thursday about how Harris was choosing a running mate, but Beshear spoke more freely about the presidential campaign he has ahead than normally. He began with a statement saying he was honored to be considered for the ticket, but asked later if he thought Trump was a threat to democracy, he said, “Yes, I do.”
Beshear said he would do everything he could to elect Harris, regardless of whether he was his running mate.
“I think what is needed now is a ticket that not only can win, but again can govern and can govern in a way that is for everyone,” he said. “We can’t continue with all this being red or blue or Democrat or Republican. Everything now, from the car you buy to the beer you drink, someone tries to make it partisan and say you have to pick a team.”
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Associated Press reporters Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Bruce Schreiner in Frankfort, Kentucky, contributed to this report.
