Long Beach Congressman Robert Garcia will be in the post-debate spin room for Vice President Kamala Harris after she debates Donald Trump tonight in Philadelphia, Penn. at the National Constitution Center, a forum that will likely serve as the candidate’s only head-to-head encounter eight weeks before Election Day.
Beginning at 6 p.m. PDT, the 90-minute debate will be broadcast live on ABC News Live. In addition, Hulu and Disney+, as well as BBC News FAST channel, BBC.com, the BBC News App and NBC News NOW will air the debate. ABC anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate and there will be no audience. Microphones will be muted unless it is their time to speak.
On his way to spin room in Philadelphia earlier in the day, Garcia said that people are feeling “ready and confident” in Harris’ ability to take the presidential mantle come November.
Garcia, who endorsed Harris for president in 2020 and even co-chaired her statewide race in 2019, was named co-chair for her national campaign last month. The former Long Beach mayor added that “for a lot of folks” this is their first time hearing at length from Vice President Harris.
A New York Times and Siena College poll released this weekend found that 28% of “likely voters” wanted more information on Harris and her platform before making a decision.
“I think Donald Trump is a pretty well-known person. I think people know who he is, and I think there’s still a good chunk of Americans that want to get to know Kamala Harris and her ideas and her vision for moving the country forward,” Garcia said.
Harris announced her campaign in mid-July, following a debate performance by President Joe Biden that alarmed many Democrats. That debate helped end the incumbent’s bid for a second term but also left the Harris campaign in an eleventh-hour dash to draw up policy and ideas separate from the administration she is currently a part of.
“She is the Vice President, and she’s proud of that and talks about the record that they have, whether it’s on health care costs or student loan relief or climate infrastructure investments,” Garcia said. “But she’s also putting out a new agenda.”
With less than eight weeks until Election Day, national polls show Trump and Harris are nearly tied in seven battleground states that may decide the contest, including Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
This weekend, Garcia said he will take a canvass party of a hundred Long Beach residents to Las Vegas. They’ve also established a local phone bank, with “great turnout.”
“So just doing what we can to support the swing states that we know are going to make a difference, like Nevada, Arizona,” Garcia said.
Released on Sunday, Harris’ policy page, “A New Way Forward,” details her agenda on economic and foreign policy, and lists early aspirations for her administration, from tax breaks for families with newborns to a cap on insulin prices.
When asked, Garcia said Harris looks to continue the Biden Administration’s goal of securing a ceasefire in the War in Gaza.
“That has been her position, it’s been his position,” he said. “She’s also shown empathy for how horrible the situation is in Gaza.”