Harris says she's 'feeling very good about Pennsylvania' during campaign stop in battleground state
Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters she was "feeling very good about Pennsylvania" while campaigning on Friday in the key battleground state, even as both supporters and detractors came out for the occasion.
In an unannounced stop at Classic Elements, a cafe and bookstore in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Harris told reporters, "I am feeling very good about Pennsylvania, because there are a lot of people in Pennsylvania who deserve to be seen and heard."
"I will be continuing to travel around the state to make sure that I'm listening as much as we are talking," Harris said. "And ultimately, I feel very strongly that -- got to earn every vote, and that means spending time with folks in the communities where they live. And so that's why I'm here."
She added, "We're going to be spending a lot more time in Pennsylvania."
Part of that visit included an interview with an Philadelphia ABC News affiliate as Harris faces criticism from Trump and other Republicans that she hasn't done extended news media interviews beyond a sit-down with CNN on Aug. 29.
Harris and former President Donald Trump remain locked in a tight race in Pennsylvania, with 538's presidential polling average for Pennsylvania showing less than a percentage point between the candidates as of Friday afternoon.
Both campaigns will look to win the state, which Biden won by about a 1% margin in 2020 -- four years after Trump won by slightly less than 1%.
Before she spoke with reporters, Harris chatted with the store's owner while Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and his spouse Giselle Fetterman looked on.
Harris spoke about a small business owner neighbor she had growing up who was a "second mother" to her. Harris also praised the staff for their work.
When Harris went into the main seating area of the café, a patron called out, "Kamala, we love you!" to which Harris responded, "I appreciate you, thank you" to applause and comments of "Madame Vice President."
Speaking to the patrons, Harris said, "We're doing it together. But I wanted to come to Johnstown … I wanted to come and visit this small business -- you know, a lot of the work I care about is about building community, right? There are many ways to do that … one of them is our small businesses."
But Harris encountered both supporters and detractors outside of the bookstore.
Near the bookstore, people behind temporary fencing held signs that were both supportive of Harris and supportive of Trump.
One person could be heard chanting "USA!" while another chanted "We're not going back" -- which can often be heard at her campaign events.
And one person could be seen holding up a sign that said, "Even my dog hates Trump."
Earlier, when she landed in Johnstown, there was a large crowd gathered at the airport hanger; Harris was greeted by the Fettermans and Johnstown Mayor Frank Janakovic.
As the motorcade drove to the bookstore, some healthcare workers lined a street holding up middle fingers and a sign that said, "Harris sux."
The visit came ahead of a Friday evening rally Harris is set to hold in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and amid a battleground-state swing by Harris, running mate Gov. Tim Walz, and others launched after the ABC News presidential debate on Tuesday.
While the Harris campaign is pushing for another debate with Trump, they believe it’s a “win-win” situation regardless of the outcome, a source close to the campaign team told ABC News.
The campaign's thinking is if Trump refuses, he’s a “coward” and the last thing Americans remember is Harris’s strong debate against Trump; but if Trump agrees to another debate, then Harris will perform strongly again, according to the source.
In fact, the Vice President may even prefer not having another debate so that she doesn’t have to take time off the trail to debate prep, the source added. Harris takes her preparation extremely seriously, and another debate would remove her from campaigning during these critical days before the election, according to the source.
Harris’s campaign is entering a more intense phase, adding that she will be doing more interviews, but mostly with local news and influencers, according to campaign sources.
One of those interviews was with ABC Philadelphia station WPVI Friday evening, which marked the vice president's first solo interview since she secured the nomination.
WPVI anchor Brian Taff asked questions on several topics, starting with the economy, pressing Harris for specifics about her “opportunity economy” proposals that were rolled out in North Carolina last month and which she emphasized during the debate on Tuesday.
Harris didn’t offer any new details about her plan, instead highlighting existing ideas about providing tax deductions to create small businesses, providing tax credits to private sector home builders to address housing needs, and offering down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers
When pressed on how she would differ from Joe Biden as president, Harris said, “Well, I'm obviously not Joe Biden. And, you know, I offer a new generation of leadership.”
Taff noted the previously little-known fact that Harris is a gun owner, which she brought up in Tuesday's debate, and asked her about her stance on gun ownership.
Harris said she’s not going to be taking Americans’ guns away from them, but that she backs gun safety laws.
“I support the Second Amendment, and I support reasonable gun safety laws. And so I feel very strongly that it is consistent with the Second Amendment. and your right to own a gun. to also say we need an assault weapons ban," she said.
“They're literally tools of war,” Harris continued. “I say we need universal background checks. The majority of NRA members support that. Why? Because it's just reasonable. You just might want to know.”
Taff asked the vice president how she would appeal to voters who are still undecided, or who "share [Trump's] values, but are open to something else?"
"I, based on experience, and a lived experience, know in my heart, I know in my soul, I know, that the vast majority of us as Americans have so much more in common than what separates us," Harris replied. "And I also believe that I am accurate in knowing that most Americans want a leader that brings us together as Americans and not someone who professes to be a leader who is trying to have us point our fingers at each other."
Harris also noted that several major Republicans have endorsed her candidacy, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, and emphasized her focus on creating a large tent, arguing that Trump’s approach has made people more willing to come together, even if they don’t always agree.
“I think people are more willing now, in light of the the hate and division that we see coming out of Donald Trump, to say, hey, let's let's put country first. And I think that just makes us stronger and more healthy as a country," Harris said. "To say, look, we can all debate our differences around, you know, various policies, but let's stop with the division. Like, enough of that. Let's bring everybody together."
That message of cross-party unity was on display at a rally later in the evening at the McHale Athletic Center at Wilkes University, where thousands gathered to hear the vice president.
Harris was introduced by Mary-Grace Vadalla, who identified herself as a lifelong Republican and shared the story of her mom voting for Trump in 2016 before dying of COVID-19 during the pandemic, for which Vadalla said she blamed Trump.
Harris led with what she said was her prosecutorial record of her taking on elder abuse, workers wrongly deprived of wages, the housing foreclosure crisis, and “transnational criminal organizations like the Sinaloa cartel that traffic in drugs and threaten the safety of our communities.”
“I know these cartels firsthand, and as president, I will make sure we prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law for pushing poison, like fentanyl, on our children,” Harris said
She then took aim at Trump and brought up Tuesday's debate, criticizing him for his remark during the face-off in which he said he had "concepts" of a plan to improve healthcare.
"The same tired playbook we heard for years with no plan,” Harris said. “No plan on how he would address the needs of the American people. Well, folks, it's time to turn the page. Turn the page. We’re not going back. We’re not going back."
ABC News' Selina Wang, Molly Nagle, Isabella Murray and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
