In a bold attempt to win over the crucial Florida votes, on Saturday, US Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned in The Villages that are known as a Republican stronghold and the home of Donald Trump supporters. This event went viral on social media with videos of the rally showing numerous golf carts covered in American flags, according to Newsweek.
Trump won both 2016 and 2020 elections in Florida where The Villages is a sprawling retirement community that has become his strongholds. Last Sunday, Joe Biden exited from presidential race after criticism about his debate performance and concerns about his age; this happened just before Harris’ visit. After dropping out of the race, Biden endorsed Harris for president.
During her weekend of action campaign, Barbie Harden Hall tweeted videos on X showing enthusiastic Kamala Harris supporters- lots of golf carts were lined up. Hall wrote: “HUNDREDS OF GOLF CARTS! And I don’t even know how many supporters throughout the route! The Villages, Florida is FIRED UP for @KamalaHarris.”
Jon Cooper, one Democratic fundraiser who reposted Hall’s footage made these videos go viral. By Sunday afternoon, it had already been viewed over five million times. “Trust me when I say it’s a SUPER-RED community that’s usually a real hotbed of Trump support. The fact that there are over 200 golf carts at this rally for @KamalaHarris today is INCREDIBLE!” commented Cooper.
Jaime Harrison the chairman of Democratic National Committee (DNC), appeared on MSNBC’s The Weekend in response to this successful rally stating that “The Villages are ruby red—there were 500 senior citizens riding around on golf carts and probably voted for Donald Trump before supporting Kamala Harris.” “This energy on the ground is something else; since Barack Obama in 2008,” he added.
Florida Democratic Party praised her campaign by noting that Harris has “energized the entire Democratic base” in a press release earlier this week. They noted that almost ten thousand new volunteers from traditionally Republican areas like The Villages have joined the struggle against Trump and Republican radicalism.
Since Biden’s recent departure from the presidential race, there is limited polling on a prospective matchup between Harris and Trump. A Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll conducted between July 22 and 24 across nine swing states found Trump leading Harris in Florida by 8 percentage points, a slightly larger margin than against her predecessor Biden. The poll surveyed 6,927 voters with no exact number of Floridians specified.
