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Kamala Harris has appeared on the latest cover of TIME magazine which credited her with pulling off “the swiftest vibe shift in modern political history.”
Harris declined to be interviewed for the article, which featured a striking front-page image of the vice president sketched in black and white while surrounded by supporters holding up signs bearing her name next to the words “Her moment.”
The story, entitled “The Reintroduction of Kamala Harris”, even went as far as comparing her Philadelphia campaign rally on August 6 to a Taylor Swift or Beyoncé concert.
More than 14,000 people attended the event, displaying a kind of enthusiasm last seen during former President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.
A lot needed to happen to bring Harris to that moment.
In the span of nearly two months, President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump engaged in a disastrous debate leading Democrats to call on the president to suspend his reelection campaign; A 20-year-old kitchen worker shot Trump in the ear, and Biden withdrew his candidacy.
Biden endorsed Harris’s presidential candidacy almost immediately after making the announcement. Her campaign raised $81m in 24 hours following the decision.
Last week, she introduced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate to the delight of many social media spectators who adopted his nickname “Coach Walz”.
Harris is now leading Trump in four key battleground states, including Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. The vice president is ahead in those states by four percentage points, an uptick from Biden’s earlier poll numbers.
Trump campaign officials said the latest poll, conducted by The New York Times and Siena College “dramatically understated” Trump’s supporters, according to Newsweek, which obtained a memo of the remarks.
“Once again, we see a series of public surveys released with the clear intent and purpose of depressing support for President Trump,” the memo continued.
The Independent emailed the Trump campaign for comment.
Trump himself worked to double down that stance over the weekend, writing on Truth Social:
“I’m doing really well in the presidential race, leading in almost all of the REAL polls, and this despite the Democrats unprecedentedly changing their primary winning candidate,” Trump said. “I did great in 2016, and WON, did much better in 2020, getting many millions more votes than ‘16, but this, 2024, is thus far my best campaign.”
