ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Vice President Kamala Harris worked to mobilize her college-age supporters at a rally and concert in battleground Michigan on Monday, with singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers telling the crowd that doing something like voting “is bigger than fear.” “At a time when the future is so uncertain.”

Michigan had the highest youth voter turnout rate nationwide in 2022, with long lines stretching outside polling places on college campuses. Democrats hope they can recreate that enthusiasm this year, like the rallies Harris held in Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan, that featured Rogers’ performance.

“You can vote early until Sunday, November 3rd, and Michigan, we need you to vote early because we only have eight days left,” the Democratic presidential candidate said at an outdoor rally in 50-degree weather. “We are eight days away from one of the most important elections of our lives.”

“And we will win,” he said. “We have the opportunity to turn the page and chart a joyful new path forward.”

Thousands of people flocked to Burns Park for the event, which featured Rogers singing “Love You for a Long Time” and some of his other hit songs. The event also reunited Harris with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The two have not been together since a campaign bus tour to Georgia in August.

Harris interrupted more than a dozen pro-Palestinian protesters early in her speech. “Israeli bombs, Kamala pays, how many children did you kill today?” “Hey guys, I hear you,” he said.

“As for Gaza, we all want this war to end as soon as possible and the hostages to be removed, and I will do everything I can to achieve this,” Harris said. The group was removed from the event shortly after their chants were drowned out by “Kamala” counter chants.

Michigan, because of its sizeable Arab American population and progressive cities like Ann Arbor, has become the epicenter of activism against Harris and Democrats over the war between Israel and Hamas.

Throughout her speech, Harris sought to draw contrasts between herself and Republican candidate Donald Trump, describing him as unstable and erratic and criticizing him on women’s reproductive rights and other issues.

During previous visits to the Michigan cities of Saginaw and Warren, Harris courted working-class voters, highlighting the administration’s efforts to bring more factory jobs to the state and her support for labor unions.

“I’m here, I’m here for you,” he told workers after touring the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades’ training facility in Warren. He said Trump doesn’t care about working people and middle-class people, and noted in particular the way he has packed the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that enforces labor laws in the U.S., with anti-union figures; This has often been criticized. Against Trump by union members. He also criticized Trump for praising Elon Musk, the businessman and owner of social media platform X who has discussed firing striking workers.

In Saginaw, he toured a semiconductor factory to highlight how government funding for computer chip manufacturers could create jobs at factories in Michigan. He visited days after Trump criticized the bipartisan 2022 bill providing federal money and said he would prefer just tariffs.

Opposite Rallies

Meanwhile, Democrats stepped up their attacks on Trump on Monday, a day after a comedian opening a rally for the former president called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” A band from the swing state of Pennsylvania.

Harris called Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday “more lively than ever” and said he was “fanning the fire of hate” before flying to Michigan for a campaign event. President Joe Biden called the rally “simply disgraceful.” In a rare move late Sunday, Trump’s campaign distanced itself from comments made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe about Puerto Rico.

“The nonsense he’s talking about pollutes our elections and confirms how little Donald Trump cares about our Puerto Rican community, especially Latinos,” Reading Mayor Eddie Moran said at a news conference with other Puerto Rican officials. he said.

With just over a week until Election Day, the events underscore the importance of last-minute efforts to sway Pennsylvania’s 19 delegate votes and a growing number of Hispanic voters, mostly from Puerto Rico, settling in cities west and north of Philadelphia.

Fernando Tormos-Aponte, a sociology professor at the University of Pittsburgh who specializes in Puerto Rican politics and electoral organizing, said the timing of the comments could pose problems for the Trump campaign.

“When you combine the events of yesterday with other grievances of Puerto Ricans, you’re not really engaging in a sound political strategy,” Tormos-Aponte said. he said.

Trump responded to criticism

Trump did not directly mention the controversy during his speech in Georgia on Monday, choosing instead to deflect another criticism of him; Trump said he wished he had “German generals” as president, former White House chief of staff reports. Harris’ campaign seized on the comment, and the vice president agreed in a radio interview last week that Trump was a “fascist.”

During a rally at Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Monday night, Trump called Harris a “fascist” and said: “I’m not a Nazi. I’m the opposite of a Nazi.”

Trump also warned in a recent speech that Michelle Obama made a “big mistake” by treating him “badly.”

Sen. J.D. Vance, Trump’s vice presidential pick, was asked about the insult during a hearing in Wausau, Wis.

“Maybe it’s a stupid racist joke like you said. Maybe it’s not. I didn’t see it. I won’t comment on the details of the joke,” Vance said. “But I think we should stop getting so offended by every little thing.”

Harris’ campaign launched an ad to run online in battleground states, targeting Puerto Rican voters and highlighting the comedian’s remarks. The comments earned Harris an endorsement from Puerto Rican music star Bad Bunny and sparked backlash from Republicans in Florida and Puerto Rico.

Hinchcliffe also made derogatory jokes about Black people, other Latinos, Palestinians and Jews in his routine before Trump’s appearance. On Monday in Pittsburgh, Harris’ Jewish husband, Doug Emhoff, spoke out about antisemitism in America, a day after the anniversary of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre.

“There’s a fire in this country, and we’re either pouring water or pouring gasoline on it,” Emhoff said.

Still, it was Hinchliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico that garnered the most attention, in part because of the geography of the election.

From Labor Day through last weekend, both campaigns made more visits to Pennsylvania than Georgia, Arizona and Nevada combined, according to Associated Press tracking of the campaigns’ public events. The state is home to some of the fastest-growing Hispanic communities, including Reading and Allentown, where more than half the population is Hispanic.

Pennsylvania’s Latino voter population has more than doubled since 2000, from 206,000 to 620,000 in 2023, according to Census Bureau figures. More than half of them are Puerto Rican voters.

The comedian’s remarks were played on Spanish-language radio in Pennsylvania early Monday by one of Harris’ surrogates in Allentown, Pennsylvania, who called out Trump for not issuing an apology beyond a statement from the campaign: “This joke is not a joke by President Trump or the campaign.” opinions.”

U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, a Democrat who covers districts in central Florida where large numbers of Puerto Ricans have recently moved from the island, noted Monday that there are “large numbers” of Puerto Ricans in the swing states.

“We remember, and you know, we will vote,” Soto said at a press conference of Puerto Rican leaders. “That’s all we can do right now.”

Trump planned to visit Allentown and return to Pennsylvania on Tuesday after speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida.

Information for this article was provided by Dan Merica, Joey Cappelletti, Adriana Gomez Licon, Michelle L. Price, Bill Barrow, Nicholas Riccardi, Mike Schneider and Will Weissert of the Associated Press.

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris tours the Hemlock Semiconductor Next Generation Finishing facility in Hemlock, Michigan, on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks after touring the Hemlock Semiconductor Next Generation Finishing facility in Hemlock, Michigan, on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks after touring the Hemlock Semiconductor Next Generation Finishing facility in Hemlock, Michigan, on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks after touring the Hemlock Semiconductor Next Generation Finishing facility in Hemlock, Michigan, on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris (R) tours the Hemlock Semiconductor Next Generation Finishing facility in Hemlock, Michigan, on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)