Vice Presidential Pool Reports of July 20, 2024

VP travel pool #1 — departure JBA

Morning all,

I'm your pooler today for VP's trip to Provincetown where she will be speaking at a fundraiser.

The VP is due to make her remarks at 3:20pm. At the moment it seems as though the pool will only be able to see the introduction and the VP speech.

The event is an editorial pool only, so no cameras and no livestream of the remarks on campaign socials.

VP stepped off M2 at 11:35 to a cloudy JBA, wearing a beige jacket and white pants. She was accompanied by Tony West.

She did not come back and speak to the pool.

AF2 wheels up imminently.

VP travel pool #2 — arrival in Cape Cod

We're wheels down at Cape Cod Coast Guard Air Station at 12:46.

Uneventful flight. VP descended steps of AF2 at 1:04pm, greeted by:

- Captain Michael Lachowicz, USCG Air Station Cape Cod Commanding Officer
- Attorney General Andrea Campbell (D-MA)
- Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll (D-MA)
- Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-05)
- Congressman Bill Keating (D-MA-09)
- Tevis Keating, Spouse of Congressman Bill Keating

According to a source familiar:

The event is hosted by Bryan Rafanelli and is expected to draw more than 800 attendees.

Secretary Pete Buttigeig, Gov. Maura Healey, Sen. Ed Markey, and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu are expected to attend.

Actress Jennifer Coolidge, Billy Porter, and Darren Criss are attending and Broadway actress Adrienne Warren is performing.

The event has raised $2 million.

As of 1:07 VP has joined motorcade and we're rolling out to the venue. Drive is expected to take 1 hour 20 mins.

VP travel pool #3 — Harris remarks about to begin

Pool arrived at Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum at 2:34pm and did not see VP leave the car.

Along the route from the airport people were lined up at various points waving at the motorcade, as well as the entrance. One protestor stood at the entrance holding a sign saying "Stop Funding Genocide".

VP's remarks are starting any moment.

The event is taking place outdoors, under a tent just off from the harbor. A big sign saying "VPTOWN" hung up at the back, a play on Provincetown being referred to as Ptown.

The pool will get to hear the introduction, VP and part of a musical act. Most of Secretary Pete Buttigeig's remarks were closed press — but we were allowed in right at the end. I'm trying to get a list of who spoke.

She is being introduced to the the stage by Bryan Rafanelli, who said that 1000 people were in attendance and that over $2mn had been raised.

"Back in 2012 we were fighting for the recognition of our marriages and it was Joe Biden who listened to our voices and stood up for our community," Rafanelli said. "Let me be clear, if we do not win this election, we will be fighting for a lot more than marriage equality. We will be fighting for our right to exist."

"Kamala Harris is not just a politician, she's a trail blazer, a symbol of progress…[she] has consistently fought for the LGBT community."

VP travel pool #4 — Harris remarks highlights

This is extremely long as they won't let me send out the Otter link. WH will release transcript.

As she took the stage, there were minutes of cheering and clapping before she could begin speaking.

"Oh my goodness," she said as she reacted to the crowd.

VP Harris paid respects to congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who passed away last night: "she was such a powerful fighter."

She described the late congresswoman as "one of our nation's fiercest, smartest, and most strategic leaders in the way she fought about our fight for civil rights and progress."

"We are going to win," she said to enormous applause. "It's not going to be easy… it takes believing in something and then going for it."

"I'm in these streets," she said to the laughter of the room, as she described her week of travel across PA, MI, NC and now Mass.

"I'm testifying as a first hand witness," she said, raising her hands in the air, "with every decision [Biden] makes in the Oval Office, I'm telling you he thinks about how it will impact everyday working Americans."

She then attacked Trump's message of unity at the RNC.

"If you claim to stand for unity, then you need to know it's more than just a word."

"I'm a daughter of parents who met on labor activist civil rights movement. In fact, when I was young, they would take me to the marches… and they marched for freedom and equality. Not for some, but for all. So when it comes to the fight for LGBTQ rights, as much as anything, I know it to be a fundamental fight for freedom, she said.

She then went after JD Vance saying that he will "undoubtedly be a rubber stamp" for Trump's "extremist anti-LGBTQ agenda." Someone shouted "go get them Kamala!"

"Let me be clear, if Donald Trump wins in November, he will once again implement policies that target the LGBTQ community. Just look at what he did in his first term in office."

On Project 2025: "by the way, can you believe they actually put that in writing? … There are kids here so I'll delete some words," she said.

People are holding and waving paddles that say "VEEP TOWN"

She closed out by discussing her campaign manager from when she was running for DA in San Fransisco in 2003, Jim Rivaldo, who had previously run campaigns for Harvey Milk.

"He would talk about the early days being with Harvey and the beginning of the movement for equality… And he'd say first, you must recognize what you're up against. And know that those who oppose progress will always try to suggest that a movement for freedom is somehow Centricity and that it undermines who we are as a nation or our traditions," she said.

"But what we know is that it strengthens who we are as a nation when we fight to expand right rather than restrict."

Adrian Warren then sang.

Pool left the event at 4:37, did not see VP join motorcade. Heading straight back to the airport.

VP travel pool #5 — departing Cape Cod

VP Harris left the motorcade and boarded AF2 at 6:06pm.

"Have you spoken to the President?" NYT reporter shouted as she walked up the steps. She gave a thumbs up. "Is he doing ok?" Another thumbs up. WH staff confirmed she heard the questions.

She did not come back to speak to reporters, marking the second campaign event in a row where she did not speak to the pool — a departure from what had become usual routine.

Wheels up imminently heading back to JBA.

VP travel pool #6 arrival JBA

AF2 touched down at JBA at 7:22.

VP and Tony West came down the steps and boarded M2 at 7:30pm.

That's all for today.