By SARAH EWALL-WICE, SENIOR U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM IN ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN
Published: 15:02 EST, 28 October 2024 | Updated: 16:53 EST, 28 October 2024
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Vice President Kamala Harris sidestepped a question over whether she is being held to a higher standard on the campaign trail than Donald Trump after former First Lady Michelle Obama blasted the vice president’s critics.
During a rally on Saturday, Obama accused the ex-president of gross incompetence while claiming Harris has to ‘dazzle’ people and prove she belongs.
‘Can someone tell me why we are, once again, holding Kamala to a higher standard than her opponent?’ Obama asked at a rally in Kalamazoo.
‘We expect her to be intelligent and articulate, to have a clear set of policies, to never show too much anger, to prove time and time again that she belongs,’ the former first lady said.
‘But for Trump, we expect nothing at all, no understanding of policy, no ability to put together a coherent argument, no honesty, no decency, no morals,’ she went on.
Vice President Kamala Harris walking to board Air Force Two to depart for Michigan on Monday. Before she departed to the swing state, she sidestepped to a question about Michelle Obama’s claim Harris faces a double standard on the campaign trail
When asked about the double standard on Monday by a reporter, Harris avoided addressing it.
‘My role and responsibility running for President of the United States is to make my case to the American people and to earn their support,’ Harris said.
The vice president claimed that is why she is spending time traveling the country listening to voters and sharing her plans to support them.
Her remarks come after the former first lady gave a blistering review of the coverage and voters’ reactions to the 2024 presidential race and argued people are willing to write off Trump’s ‘childish, mean-spirited antics.’
Former First Lady Michelle Obama speaking at Kamala Harris’ rally on Saturday in Kalamazoo, MI. It was her first appearance on the campaign trail in 2024
During the Kalamazoo rally, Obama claimed Harris faces a higher standard than Trump and must prove she belongs while people are willing to write off Trump’s ‘antics’
‘I hope that you’ll forgive me if I’m a little angry that we are indifferent to his erratic behavior, his obvious mental decline, his history as a convicted felon, a known slumlord, a predator found liable for sexual abuse,’ Obama said.
‘All of this while we pick apart Kamala’s answers from interviews that he doesn’t even have the courage to do,’ she continued in a brutal takedown.
But when asked about it, Harris pivoted to talking about her proposals to help Americans.
The question about the double standard accusation came before the vice president headed back to Michigan where she has three campaign stops on Monday including a visit to a manufacturing facility in Saginaw, a training facility in Macomb and then a rally in Ann Arbor.
Before heading to the battleground state, the vice president also condemned the racist remarks made at the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
She said the event was ‘intended to and is fanning the fuel’ of division in the United States.
‘I think last night Donald Trump’s event at Madison Square Garden really highlighted a point that I’d been making throughout this campaign. He is focused and actually fixated on his grievances, on himself and on dividing our country,’ the vice president said.
