Vice President Harris visits Atlanta to talk economy, court Black voters

ATLANTA — Vice President Kamala Harris visited Atlanta on Monday.

She was in town promoting the Biden administration’s commitment to creating economic opportunities in Georgia’s Black communities.

She also used the trip to appeal to Black voters.

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Recent polling numbers show that some of the support of the Biden administration from Black communities is softening.

Without it, the Biden/Harris ticket may not win Georgia again.

Harris arrived on stage 45 minutes late to enthusiastic applause from the business community.

She was in College Park’s Gateway Center to talk about creating economic opportunity, wealth building, and access to much-needed capital for Black communities.

She told the crowd part of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream was as much about civil rights as economic parity.

“The vision for America that included a vision that was about fighting for civil rights and understanding to achieve true equality, you have to have an economic agenda,” Harris said.

While Harris was talking about the economy, she was also in Atlanta to shore up support for the Biden administration.

She touted the hundreds of millions in infrastructure dollars sent to Georgia, including the more than $150 million to help reconnect neighborhoods split apart by the construction of the downtown connector.

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“So here in Atlanta, there’s going to be $158 million out of our infrastructure bill that will do that work and it’s going to create, we estimate, 13,000 jobs,” Harris said.

In response, Georgia’s Republican party chair Josh McKoon sent a statement saying, “No amount of visits to Georgia will erase the damage done by their policies. Georgians are looking forward to a second Trump administration and a return to an economy that works for everyone.”

The proposed cap over the downtown connector is called “The Stitch” and is supposed to create about 14 acres of greenspace where there wasn’t any.

The vice president’s tour is a continuation of her nonstop travel to communities across the country.

She has made more than 35 trips to 16 states since the beginning of 2024.

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