Kamala Harris breaks from debate prep in Pittsburgh to make campaign stop
After spending several days in Pittsburgh this week, Vice President Kamala Harris ventured out Saturday afternoon for a quick campaign stop in the Strip District. She was greeted by emotional supporters.
Harris departed the Omni William Penn Hotel in Downtown around 1 p.m. Security was high around and inside the historic hotel. Secret Service closed off a block of William Penn Place to traffic in front of the Omni, and guests had to pass through a metal detector in the lobby.
The vice president traveled just up the road into the city’s Strip District, making a stop at Penzeys Spices on Penn Avenue.
Upon entering, a woman became overwhelmed when looking at Harris and started to cry. The woman told the vice president, “I appreciate you, just so you should know.”
Harris embraced her.
“We are gonna be fine, we are gonna be fine,” Harris told her. “We are all in this together.”
Harris then greeted other customers in the spice shop and posed for pictures.
One girl Harris spoke to, named Charlotte, said she is from Freeport and attends school in the Freeport Area School District. The girl asked for a hug. Harris posed for photos with the girl and her entire family — including her father, a seventh grade geography teacher.
Harris thanked him for being a teacher.
“We are counting on your leadership, OK?” Harris told Charlotte, who nodded in approval. “Really I am serious, I am really counting on you.
“Go Yellowjackets,” Harris said, referencing Freeport’s mascot, as she high-fived Charlotte.
Harris then met with some other customers briefly and discussed cooking with a Penzeys staffer and picked out a few spices.
Shortly after, Harris fielded some questions from the press, first about the endorsement from former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Kamala Harris at a spice store in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. She took some questions from the press after picking out some spices and meeting with customers. She answered some questions about the Duck Cheney endorsement and debate preparation. pic.twitter.com/QlOt5xKJ6J
— Ryan Deto (@RyanDeto) September 7, 2024
“I’m honored to have their endorsement,” Harris said of gaining the backing of Cheney and his daughter former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney. Harris added that, as leaders who are well respected, they “are making an important statement that it’s OK … to put country above party.
“I think it’s an important statement right now. A lot of what I think is happening — and I’ve just been talking with some folks here in Pittsburgh about it — is that people are exhausted about the division and the attempts to kind of divide us as Americans.
“And them stepping up to make this public statement, I think, is courageous but also — for people I’ve just been talking with — it really reinforces for them that we love our country and we have more in common than what separates us.”
Harris was also asked what her main message to former President Donald Trump will be during Tuesday’s debate.
“It’s time to turn the page on the divisiveness,” Harris said. “It’s time to bring our country together. Chart a new way forward.”
Harris has been staying in Downtown Pittsburgh since Thursday in preparation for her televised debate against Trump on Tuesday in Philadelphia. Since arriving, she has been hunkered down in the Omni William Penn, seemingly getting ready for the high profile forum.
At Penzeys, she was asked what the best part of debate preparation in Pittsburgh has been, and she said “being at this spice store” and laughed with the Penzeys staffer.
Over 100 people gathered around Penzeys when Harris entered the store. She spent just over 10 minutes in Penzeys and then headed directly back to the Omni.
The crowd outside of Penzeys appeared largely supportive and cheered as she entered and exited. One person yelled “we love you Kamala” as she exited the shop.
There was also a small smattering of boos and one person yelled a slogan of former President Donald Trump, Harris’ Republican rival in the election.
Penzeys Spices is a popular stop in the Strip District for tourists and locals. The Wisconsin-based chain has dozens of stores across the nation, and the owners are well-known critics of Republicans and conservative politics.
Harris has spent the majority of the week in Pittsburgh.
On Monday, Harris rallied with union members on the city’s South Side and announced her opposition to the proposed $14.9 billion sale of U.S. Steel to Japanese company Nippon Steel. She then returned to Pittsburgh on Thursday afternoon, and has been in the city since.
Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has also spent time in Pittsburgh this week. On Thursday, he spent about an hour in the morning at Pamela’s Diner in the Strip District before heading to Erie for a rally. The day before, he met with dairy farmers in Fayette County.
Trump and his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance, have also been barnstorming in Western Pennsylvania lately. Trump rallied in Johnstown on Aug. 30 and then hosted a town hall-style event in Harrisburg with Fox News on Wednesday. Vance was in Erie last week and in Lower Burrell earlier in August.
Pennsylvania is arguably the most crucial swing state in the country. It has 19 Electoral College votes, the most of any swing state, and polls currently show a virtual dead heat between Harris and Trump.
Trump is scheduled to visit Southwestern Pennsylvania again on Sept. 23 to a location in the Smithton area of Westmoreland County that has yet to be identified.
Kush Desai, Pennsylvania communications director for Team Trump, sent a statement critical of Harris’ visit to Pittsburgh and claimed Democratic Party policies are hurting the city. They touched upon crime, drug policy, homelessness and policies regarding manufacturing and industry.
It reads, in part: “Pittsburgh’s steel mills built America’s skyscrapers, factories, and infrastructure. Today, just a handful of steel mills remain in operation in America’s Steel City as manufacturing and industry have been strangled by the regulatory overreach and lopsided ‘free’ trade deals that President Trump sought to undo. And for all her talk about supporting union workers and manufacturing to thrive, Kamala has thus far overseen the exact opposite — siding with her fellow Green New Deal supporters to strangle American industry and labor.”
Ryan Deto is a TribLive reporter covering politics, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County news. A native of California’s Bay Area, he joined the Trib in 2022 after spending more than six years covering Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh City Paper, including serving as managing editor. He can be reached at rdeto@triblive.com.
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