Kamala Harris almost suffered an embarrassing stumble as she was met with a raucous reception at a rally in Arizona.
The vice president, 59, jumped up the stairs in a packed-out stadium in Glendale, and appeared to catch her foot but avoided falling over – a gaffe President Biden has repeated several times while in office.
She was welcomed on stage by her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who took the opportunity to take several jabs at Donald Trump in his address.
However, the Democratic nominee made a surprising admission about Trump and the current state of the presidential race.
Although pundits have said Trump’s campaign lost momentum after Harris replaced Biden on the Democratic ticket, she surprisingly warned her supporters that they are still ‘the underdogs’ in the election.
Kamala Harris was met with a raucous reception at a rally in Glendale, Arizona on Friday
Harris almost suffered an embarrassing stumble as she jumped up the steps at Arizona rally
Kamala’s rally in Arizona coincided with Trump’s own event in deep-red Montana , which was delayed after his plane was forced to make an emergency landing earlier in the day due to a ‘mechanical issue.’
After being introduced by Walz, Harris was quickly interrupted by pro-Palestine protestors in the crowd.
She met the interruption by quieting her supporters and saying she wanted to ‘respect’ the voices of those protesting, and brought a cheer as she openly called for a ‘ceasefire’ in the Middle East.
‘Let me just say this, on topic of what I think I’m hearing over there,’ she said.
‘I have been clear, now is the time to get a ceasefire deal and get the hostage deal done.’
The Harris campaign said over 15,000 people filled the Desert Diamond arena on Friday, and she was led out by speakers including Walz, and another Democrat who was on her VP shortlist, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.
Kelly praised Walz’s military record as the VP pick’s record came under scrutiny in recent days, which has included allegations that he retired from the National Guard early to avoid being deployed.
Harris was introduced by her running mate Tim Walz (right) and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly (left, with his former congresswoman wife Gabby Giffords)
Kelly, a former Navy fighter pilot, said Walz ‘served honorably in uniform for decades’, and said he ‘has brought that experience to everything he has done since – fighting for our service members, fighting for veterans, and fighting for military families.’
The Arizona senator also compared Walz with Trump, who famously avoided the Vietnam War draft by claiming to have ‘bone spurs’, as he said the former president ‘has zero respect for any of us who have worn the uniform.’
The rally comes shortly after Trump held a meandering press conference in Mar-A-Lago, where he claimed he brings larger crowds than Martin Luther King.
As he warmed up the crowd on Friday night, Walz referenced Trump’s remark as he spoke of the large crowd in Arizona, quipping: ‘But it’s not as if anyone cares about crowd sizes or anything.’
The rally comes shortly after Trump held a meandering press conference in Mar-A-Lago , where he claimed he brings larger crowds than Martin Luther King
Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, a former NASA astronaut and Navy fighter pilot, slammed Trump as having ‘zero respect for any of us who have worn the uniform’
Bringing the rally back to her election fight in November, Harris clearly tried to draw contrasts between her campaign and Trump’s.
‘Across our nation, we are witnessing a full on assault against hard-won, hard-fought freedoms and rights,’ she said.
‘The freedom to be safe from gun violence; the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride; and the freedom for a woman to make her own choices about her own body.’
Harris’ decision to listen and respond calmly to pro-Palestine protestors in her audience Friday marks a change in attitude to the same situation occurring at a Detroit rally earlier this week.
At that rally, protestors interrupted her remarks by chanting ‘free, free Palestine’, which the vice-president quickly dismissed.
‘You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that,’ she said. ‘Otherwise, I’m speaking.’
The apparent enthusiasm for Harris at the rally in Arizona is indicative of the dramatic shift the election has seen in just the three weeks since Biden stepped down from the race.
And in new polls, this shift registered as Harris has quickly made up the ground ceded by Biden in his final weeks of campaigning.
Overall, the race is a dead-heat according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll. Nationally, Harris now leads Trump in the race 50 percent to 49 percent among likely voters. In battleground states, the race is now tied at 50 percent each.
While the two major party nominees are now in a statistical tie, the landscape was much different for Democrats just weeks ago when the polling showed Trump with a five point lead over Biden.
The July poll also showed Trump with a three point lead in a hypothetical matchup against Harris, but the vice president appears to have wiped out his advantage since taking over the top of the ticket.