Harris kicks off pre-convention bus tour with positive message about leadership

"The real and true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up," Harris said on Sunday

By Kelly McClure

Nights & Weekends Editor

Published August 18, 2024 5:40PM (EDT)

Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign canvass kickoff event at a Beaver County Field Office on August 18, 2024 in Rochester, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign canvass kickoff event at a Beaver County Field Office on August 18, 2024 in Rochester, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

On Sunday, as Donald Trump was busy sharing AI-generated images to Truth Social of Taylor Swift fans liking him, and JD Vance supporters were left to explain why they spent the weekend carrying around jars of a viscous fluid meant to symbolize his virility, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz kicked off their pre-Democratic National Convention bus tour in western Pennsylvania where, joined by their spouses, they spread messages of strength and positivity.

While out on the road, Harris stopped in at the Aliquippa Fire Department to pet the station's dog, a golden Labrador Retriever named Hank, gifting the firefighters on hand with a burnt almond torte from Prantl’s. And over at a Democratic office in Rochester, Pa, Walz, a former football coach, pumped up volunteers by telling everyone, “Let’s leave it all on the field,” painting the perfect image of the positive 'tude the Harris-Walz campaign has quickly become known for. 

Illustrating the above even further, Harris spoke outside the area field house in Western Pa. to deliver her take on the true meaning of strength, setting her campaign apart from Trump's in such a powerful way that we'll surely hear more of in the upcoming days during the DNC.

"This campaign is about a recognition that, frankly, over the last several years, there's been this kind of perversion that has taken place, I think," Harris said. "Which is to suggest that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down. When what we know is, the real and true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up."

Watch here:

 

 

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