On August 14, 2024, Democratic Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris will deliver her first policy speech as the Democratic presidential candidate, taking direct aim at businesses that inflate prices.
According to Reuters, Harris’ campaign team announced on Tuesday, August 13, that she will head to Raleigh, North Carolina, a key state where Democrats hope to turn the tide in the upcoming election, to outline her plans to “reduce costs for middle-class families and combat price inflation caused by businesses.”
Due to the impact of Tropical Storm Debby, Harris had to cancel a campaign event in North Carolina last week.
Her first policy speech will focus on economic issues, and the choice of North Carolina as the venue signals a renewed hope for the Democratic party in the state. Democrats have only won North Carolina twice in the past half-century.
With less than three months remaining until the showdown with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on November 5, Harris has garnered new enthusiasm and campaign funds for the Democratic party since Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race. Polls in some states have shown favorable changes towards her.
Harris’ campaign team believes Pennsylvania and other states are crucial battlegrounds, but North Carolina presents a significant opportunity. In the 2020 election, Biden lost to Trump in the state by a margin of just 1.3%, or 74,000 votes.
Harris’ policy speech will be closely watched to understand how her style and substantive content differ from Biden’s.
Biden has attributed the high prices to “corporate greed,” accusing companies of boosting profits by reducing product sizes and not passing on cost decreases to consumers.
Major consumer goods companies have raised prices in recent quarters, with food prices increasing by 25% from 2019 to 2023.
An unnamed campaign official mentioned that during her tenure as California Attorney General from 2011 to 2016, Harris regulated “corporate greed and price fraud,” questioning pharmaceutical, oil, electronic, and cosmetic companies.
The official added that Harris “knows the cost is too high and will make addressing inflation a top priority from day one.”
Harris’ approach sharply contrasts with Trump’s, who believes that relaxing regulations on industries such as finance and energy will reduce costs and stimulate economic growth.
Last Saturday, August 10, Harris announced her support for cutting payroll taxes, a position echoing Trump’s. She is scheduled to hold a White House event with Biden on Thursday, the 15th, focusing on healthcare cost issues.
Nationally, Harris led Trump by 5 percentage points, with 42% to 37%, in an Ipsos poll released last Thursday, August 8, expanding her lead from a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted on July 22-23.