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Kamala Harris to kick off economic tour with Atlanta visit on Monday

Greg Bluestein, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on

Published in News & Features

ATLANTA — Vice President Kamala Harris is set to arrive in Atlanta on Monday to kick off a nationwide tour focusing on improving economic opportunities for Black men, bringing new attention to the Democrat’s efforts to mobilize one of the party’s key constituencies.

The visit by Harris, her twelfth to Georgia since she took office, comes as polls indicate that she and President Joe Biden have work to do to shore up their support among Black Americans amid a tight reelection campaign against former President Donald Trump.

She is expected to arrive at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport around noon and head to a nearby conference center for a moderated conversation with Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings of the “Earn Your Leisure” outlet.

The campaign announced the trip to Atlanta to launch the economic tour days after confirming Biden’s plans to deliver the commencement speech at Morehouse College, which drew backlash from some students and faculty who have vowed to protest his speech to vent their frustration with his agenda.

And it coincides with ongoing protests at campuses around the nation, including Emory University in Atlanta, from demonstrators who are critical of Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

Biden’s campaign is working to rekindle the tenuous alliance of urban liberals, suburban moderates, disaffected Republicans and Black voters who fueled his narrow 2020 victory in Georgia, which marked the first time the state voted Democratic in nearly three decades.

 

Trump and other Republicans see Georgia as a cornerstone of his comeback bid, and have been working to undercut Biden’s support among Black voters.

Trump’s advisers have pointed to a recent visit to a Chick-fil-A in the Vine City neighborhood, where a Black GOP activist helped organize a rousing welcome for Trump that went viral in conservative media.

While some polls show Trump is gaining ground among Black voters, traditionally the Democratic Party’s most reliable constituency, most show Biden retains an enormous lead among those voters.

Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz, who recently published an analysis of electoral trends, noted Trump’s “surprisingly robust support” among Black voters in some recent polls.

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