‘She was made for this’: Harris allies explain why she can uniquely prosecute campaign against Trump

In a series of interviews since Kamala Harris announced her campaign for the Democratic U.S. presidential nomination, allies and supporters of the vice president tell theGrio they believe she is the best person to defeat Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, in November. 

“There’s a plethora of reasons why the American people should reject the choice [of Trump], but I think she is extremely qualified to tell that story and to make that case,” Sen. Laphonza Butler, D-Calif., told theGrio.

“She has, in her career, served the people of California and the people of our country by being a truth-teller. By making her case to the American people as vice president [and] by making her case to a jury as a prosecutor,” said Butler, a lifelong friend to Harris. “I think that she is well qualified.”

As the former district attorney in San Francisco and state attorney general in California, Harris’ unique professional background could aid her in prosecuting the case against a now-convicted former president who faces pending criminal indictments and has been found liable for sexual assault.

What’s more, Harris’ background as a Black, South Asian woman and daughter of immigrants represents the intersectional groups she and Democrats say Trump and Republicans are targeting through state abortion bans, the dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and calls for mass deportations of “illegal immigrants.”

“I believe she’s uniquely qualified [to win],” Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., told theGrio. 

The longtime congressman and presidential “kingmaker” recalled Harris’ performance as a U.S. senator and presidential candidate four years ago, noting, “She is going to be exactly what the country needs to show who Donald Trump is [and] what Project 2025 is all about.”

Clyburn recalled being impressed by Harris during Senate hearings, where she often garnered media attention, like in 2018 when she pressed then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh about abortion during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing.

“Nobody conducted themselves, questioning the witnesses as effectively as she did,” said the 84-year-old lawmaker. 

Though he admits her 2020 presidential quest was “not a good campaign,” Clyburn said Harris as a candidate displayed “very effective debating.” 

Delivering remarks at her first official presidential campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, Harris held no punches in framing her candidacy as a prosecutor fit for defeating the twice-impeached former Republican president.

“I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So, hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type,” Harris said to a record 3,000 attendees for the Democratic 2024 election cycle.

“As attorney general of California, I took on one of our country’s largest for-profit colleges that was scamming students. Donald Trump ran a for-profit college that scammed students,” Harris said, followed by boos for Trump. “I took on the big Wall Street banks and held them accountable for fraud. Donald Trump was just found guilty of fraud on 34 counts.”

Continuing the contrast between her and Trump, the vice president added, “This campaign is also about two different visions for our nation: one where we are focused on the future, the other focused on the past.” 

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, who was with Harris during her visit on Tuesday, described her speech as “electric,” telling theGrio, “She really energized the base here.”

After the rousing remarks, Johnson recalled being one of the last people to see Harris as she left the venue to return to Washington. 

“I told her in that moment that she was made for this,” the 37-year-old mayor shared. He emphasized, “This is a moment that was tailor-made for her.”

Noting Harris’ work prosecuting “perpetrators” and “fraudsters,” Johnson said, “Donald Trump hits the mark on every single one of those categories and … she held them accountable.”

He continued, “That’s where her history is, that’s where her story is, that’s where her career is … she’s been fighting for the little guy, she’s been fighting for the people, and that’s exactly what she’s going to do leading up to the presidential election.”

So far, Harris’ campaign message and momentum, including raising more than $100 million and amassing 30,000 new volunteers since launching her candidacy on Sunday, appear to have already affected voters. According to a new national poll by Reuters/Ipsos, Harris leads Trump 44% to 42%.

Michael Blake, former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and aide to President Barack Obama, told theGrio that voters not only “have a clear contrast, you now have a choice.”

“You now have an old, tired, disheveled candidate on the Republican side against a young, inspiring Black woman on our side,” said Blake, founder and CEO of Kairos Democracy Project, which co-organized a “Black Men for Harris” online fundraiser that garnered $1.3 million for the Harris for President campaign.

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“You have the person who was leading the effort around abortion and reproductive choice for women against the man who wanted Roe v. Wade overturned,” he added.

Steven Reed, mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, said Harris is also the “perfect person” to talk about how Trump “stands as a clear and present danger to the progress of those civil rights.”

Reed, president of the African American Mayors Association, told theGrio, “She is the right person for this opportunity to protect and save our democracy and to help unite our nation.”

As more Americans get to know more about Kamala Harris over the next 100 days, including her family story and personal and professional journeys, Reed predicted that voters will “see the connectivity to what we all want America to be.”

“She embodies that spirit of America that we all believe in,” he added. “I think it stands in stark contrast to who the Republicans have put up on the other side.”

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Gerren Keith Gaynor is a White House Correspondent and the Managing Editor of Politics at theGrio. He is based in Washington, D.C. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Gaynor is a proud HBCU graduate of Morehouse College and a graduate of Columbia University School of Journalism.