In her first campaign appearance since former President Donald J. Trump was convicted of falsifying business records, Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to sharply criticize the former president on Saturday, calling him a “con man who believes he is above the law” and arguing that he should be disqualified from holding the presidency.
Harris, who will be the head guest at a state Democratic Party dinner in Detroit, plans to reject false claims that Trump’s trial was “rigged” like the 2020 presidential election and defend the judicial process behind his felony conviction, according to excerpts of her speech obtained by The New York Times.
In the excerpts, Harris, a former top California prosecutor, accuses Trump of attacking “the foundations of our justice system.” She says the former president was convicted by a 12-member jury selected in part by his defense team, who had the opportunity to present their side of the evidence.
“You know why he complains? It’s because the reality is that cheaters don’t like getting caught,” the excerpt reads.
The event comes in a battleground state where the stakes are rising. Biden won Michigan’s primary in February by 81% to 13%, defeating a campaign that urged Democrats to vote “independent” in protest of his support for Israel. But more than 100,000 voters, including progressives, young people and many in the state’s large, politically active Arab American community, turned out against him. Biden’s campaign is also seeking to shore up support from black voters in cities such as Detroit.
Trump won Michigan by about 11,000 votes in 2016, but lost reelection to Biden by more than 150,000 votes in 2020. Trump has made Michigan’s vote count in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
