SAVANNAH, Ga. — Though she's riding high on energy and momentum since replacing President Biden as the top Democratic candidate for the 2024 presidential election about six weeks ago, Vice President Harris is urging caution in her take on former President Trump.
“It's going to be a close race all the way to the end,” Harris told supporters on Thursday at a packed arena in the historic coastal city of Georgia, one of seven key battleground states that will determine the outcome of the presidential election.
“Let's not pay too much attention to the polls, because we're running behind,” Harris told the crowd at EnMarket Arena in Savannah, after multiple polls released in the past 24 hours showed the race within the margin of error in key battleground states and new national surveys suggested she had an edge.
“We have hard work ahead of us. But we love hard work. Hard work is good work,” Harris said to cheers. “With your help, we will win in November.”
Latest Fox News poll results in four key battleground states
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Harris arrives at a campaign rally in Savannah, Georgia, on August 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
Most polls this year had Biden and Trump predicting a close rematch of their 2020 showdown, but Trump built a small but significant lead in the weeks following his brutal defeat against his predecessor in a debate in Atlanta in late June.
But Harris has seen a surge in both polls and fundraising since taking over for Biden on July 21 after Biden ended his reelection campaign with a high-profile announcement.
Kamala Harris defends policy shift in first interview since replacing Biden as Democratic nominee for 2024 president
Harris's rally in Savannah was the last of a two-day visit to southeast Georgia with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz, and arrived about two hours after giving her first network interview since becoming the Democratic representative.
Democratic presidential nominee Harris and running mate Tim Waltz of Minnesota exit the campaign bus in Savannah, Georgia, on August 28, 2024. (Sail Robe/AFP via Getty Images)
Georgia had long been a reliably Republican state in White House elections until Biden narrowly defeated Trump in 2020, becoming the first Democrat to win the state in nearly three decades.
And in a runoff election two months later, Democrats recaptured both of the state's Republican-held Senate seats.
But fast forward to this summer, and Trump has built a lead in Georgia as Biden faces growing calls from within his party for him to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
Harris' visit this week is a signal that Democrats feel the state is once again at stake.
“Georgia, in the last two elections, the voters of this very state have lived up to their expectations,” Harris told the crowd.
“You did it, and that's why we're asking you to do it again,” she said. “Let's do it again.”
The state could decide the 2024 showdown between Harris and Trump
Georgia's popular conservative governor agrees that the state is highly competitive.
“This is certainly a battleground state,” Gov. Brian Kemp said in an interview on Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
“I have long said the path to the White House would run through Georgia, and there is no path for former President Trump to win or for any Republican candidate to reach 270 seats without Georgia,” Kemp said.
But Kemp, who headlined a Trump fundraiser in Atlanta on Thursday, added that Georgia “is a state that we can win if we put all the mechanisms in place, and I'm working hard to provide those mechanisms in a variety of ways, to turn out the Republican vote and ensure that we win this state in November.”
Vice President Harris spoke at a rally in Savannah, Georgia, on August 29, 2024, where she urged her supporters not to focus on the polls. (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)
At the rally, the vice president reiterated his commitment to preserving democracy, expanding access to affordable health care and child care, and protecting access to abortion.
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But Harris' rally was interrupted twice by demonstrators protesting the Biden-Harris administration's support for Israel in its disastrous war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Two protesters were removed as the crowd chanted “Kamala, Kamala”.
Ms Harris paused her speech to say people “have a right” to be heard, then spoke about the Middle East conflict, saying: “The president and I are working around the clock… We've got to get the hostage talks done, we've got to get a ceasefire done now.”
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital's Election Hub.
