5 takeaways from Harris-Walz campaign’s ‘reproductive freedom’ bus tour in Raleigh
Vice President Kamala Harris’ “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” bus tour rolled into Raleigh on Monday.
Around 2 p.m., campaign surrogates including second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz arrived at Raleigh’s Market Hall on East Martin Street to a throng of supporters.
With only 56 days left until the Nov. 5 election – and less than 48 hours before Harris and Donald Trump’s first debate — the Democratic candidates’ spouses spoke about holding the former president accountable for the “devastating impacts” of overturning Roe v. Wade. (In 2022, after Trump appointed three conservative justices to the high court, the Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion.)
Here are some of the biggest takeaways:
North Carolina is a critical swing state
The whistle-stop tour started last Tuesday in Palm Beach, Florida, and is expected to make 50 stops in red, blue and battleground states — two of them in the Old North State.
“Our path to victory goes right through North Carolina,” Emhoff told the crowd. “If we win here, we’ve got a chance to win. But it’s going to be close.”
Recent polls indicate North Carolina is now a “toss-up.” Before President Joe Biden dropped out in July, analysts were saying the state would vote Republican for Trump.
Harris has visited the state eight times this year and is expected to return for campaign stops in Greensboro and Charlotte on Thursday.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz visited Raleigh on Aug. 29, his first visit to the state as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. He spoke to campaign workers, attended a private fundraiser and even made a pit-stop at Cook Out, where he ordered a milkshake with Gov. Roy Cooper.
Reproductive rights take center stage
Emhoff spotlighted the conservative Project 2025 agenda that seeks to ban abortion nationwide.
Among its potential threats, he said: restricting access to birth control, forcing states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions, and jeopardizing access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF).
“It’s literally a blueprint to destroy our country, our way of life,” Emhoff said. “They’re literally running on a platform of authoritarianism and misogyny.” He added: “It’s not just a fight for women. This is for all of us.”
In North Carolina, an abortion is illegal after 12 weeks, except in cases of rape or incest or if there is risk to the pregnant person.
But restrictions are tighter in some other states. In South Carolina, for example, abortion is banned after six weeks. In Florida, Trump’s home state, an amendment is on the ballot that would overturn the current six-week ban and preserve abortion rights in the state constitution.
“Make no mistake, reproductive freedoms are on the line,” said North Carolina’s attorney general, Josh Stein, who also spoke Monday and is running for governor. “The stakes could not be higher.”
In recent weeks, Trump has waffled on his position — much to the ire of anti-abortion groups and his evangelical supporters.
Last Thursday, Trump told NBC News that he thinks six weeks is “too short” and there needs to be “more time.” But he stopped short of saying whether he would vote for Amendment 4.
The next day, he changed his stance, saying he’d vote against the amendment, MSNBC reported.
His running mate, J.D. Vance, attempted to clarify Trump’s comments, telling CNN that the former president will “make an announcement” soon on Florida’s referendum.
The fight for reproductive rights gets personal
Minnesota first lady Walz argued for reproductive rights by highlighting her own struggles with infertility.
To conceive their two children, the Walzes used intrauterine insemination, a process she described as “incredibly personal and difficult.” Intrauterine insemination, like IVF, is a common fertility procedure used by couples trying to conceive.
“Every single person should have the freedom to build their own family, and it should be your choice. Not J.D. Vance or Trump’s,” she said. “Please mind your own business.”
Alabama native Latorya Beasley, 38, is also on the bus tour. In March, she’d been scheduled to undergo an embryo transfer in the hope of having a second child through IVF. But the Alabama Supreme Court’s Feb. 16 decision, which determined that frozen embryos were children, thwarted her plans.
“It was devastating moment for our family — financially, physically and emotionally,” she said. Eventually, the social worker was able to get her treatment. “I’m now pregnant,” she told the crowd.
The social worker is sharing her story in order to encourage people to vote to protect women’s reproductive rights.
Democratic voters are energized
Some 200 supporters packed Market Hall on Monday afternoon. Many wore blue-and-white Harris-Walz T-shirts and chanted “Not going back.” Others waved signs, saying “Stop Trump’s Abortion Ban.”
“I feel like I won the lottery,” said Adrienne Mizell, 60, a semi-retired business manager, who scored a last-minute ticket for the invitation-only event. “I just had to come. For me, the most singular issue is reproductive rights.”
Deanna Thorne, a 50-year-old lawyer from Raleigh, took the day off and arrived hours early to secure a spot in the front row.
“I’m here because it’s a new vision, a new energy. That’s why all of us are so engaged and energized,” she said, adding that she also plans to vote for down-ballot candidates, including Stein. “[I’m voting] the whole blue ticket.”
For Clarence Dyson, 72, from Garner, it’s not just about reproductive rights. He also wants Supreme Court reforms and tougher legislation on climate change. “I’m fighting for my grandchildren and great grandchildren and generations to come,” he said.
Trump is upping his game with NC voters
After largely ignoring North Carolina before Harris’ campaign launch, Trump has visited the state four times: on July 24, Aug. 14, Aug. 21 and Sept. 6.
Last Friday in Charlotte he accepted an endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police, one of the nation’s most influential law enforcement lobbies.
Instead of abortion and reproductive rights, Trump focused for about an hour on crime, immigration and police funding.
“In many ways we’re a third-world country,” he said. “When I am president of the United States, we are not going to take it anymore.”
This story was originally published September 9, 2024 at 3:19 PM with the headline "5 takeaways from Harris-Walz campaign’s ‘reproductive freedom’ bus tour in Raleigh."
