Trump wants to turn US democracy into dictatorship: VP Kamala Harris

Former US president and the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump would turn the American democracy into a dictatorship, Vice President Kamala Harris said on Tuesday.

"Donald Trump wants to turn our democracy into a dictatorship. And the Supreme Court basically just declared he can get away with it," Harris said in Las Vegas, as she launched AANHPIs for Biden-Harris, a national organising and engagement programme that will mobilise Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) voters, communities and leaders across the country.

Harris alleged that Trump's advisers have created a 900-page blueprint that they are calling "Project 2025", detailing everything else they plan to do in a second term, including a plan to cut Social Security, repeal the $-35 cap on insulin, eliminate the Department of Education and end programmes like Head Start.

 

"Project 2025 outlines a plan to limit access to contraception and for a nationwide abortion ban with or without an act of Congress. If implemented, this plan would be the latest attack in Donald Trump's full-on assault on reproductive freedom," she said.

"Make no mistake, if Trump gets the chance, he will sign a national abortion ban to outlaw abortion in every single state. But we are not going to let that happen. No, we are not. We are not going to let that happen because we trust women. We know women know what is in their own best interest and do not need their government telling them what to do with their body," she said amid applause from the audience.

Harris told the audience that her mother arrived in the United States from India when she was just 19 years old. "And she and my father met while they were active in the Civil Rights Movement. In fact, when I was young, my parents would take me to the marches in a stroller. I was in the stroller, of course," she said.

"My mother had two goals in her life: to raise her two daughters -- my sister, Maya, and me -- and to end breast cancer. She was a breast cancer researcher. And I will tell you, my mother never asked anyone's permission to pursue her dreams. Never asked," she said.

Harris said her mother was all of five feet tall. "But if you met her, you would have thought she was 10 feet tall. And it is because of her character and strength and determination that within one generation, I stand before you as vice president of the United States," she said.

Harris said this is the most important election of "our lifetime".

"Today, we are 118 days out from the election. And while many of us have been involved with these elections every four years, and nearly every time we say, 'This is the one'. Well, this here is the one. This is the one, the most existential, consequential and important election of our lifetime," she said.

"Now, we always knew that this election would be tough. The past few days have been a reminder that running for president of the United States is never easy. But the one thing we know about our president, Joe Biden, is that he is a fighter. And he is the first to say: when you get knocked down, you get back up," the vice president said.