Vice Presidential Pool Reports of June 28, 2024

VP travel pool report #1 – VP arrival at Vegas rally

Good morning from Las Vegas. This is your pooler's first time pooling — greetings.

Today the vice president arrived from Los Angeles to speak at a Biden-Harris late morning rally aimed at Hispanic voters. Afterward, she will fly to Park City, Utah for a fundraiser and then return to Los Angeles in the evening.

Here is the official schedule:

At 9:55 AM PT, the Vice President will depart Los Angeles, CA en route to Las Vegas, NV. This departure from Los Angeles International Airport will be pooled press.
At 10:50 AM PT, the Vice President will arrive in Las Vegas, NV. This arrival at Harry Reid International Airport will be pooled press.
At 11:50 AM PT, the Vice President will deliver remarks at a campaign event. These remarks will be pooled and open to pre-credentialed media.
At 12:45 PM PT, the Vice President will depart Las Vegas, NV en route to Salt Lake City, UT. This departure from Harry Reid International Airport will be pooled press.
At 2:55 PM MT, the Vice President will arrive in Salt Lake City, UT. This arrival at Salt Lake City International Airport will be pooled press.
At 4:35 PM MT, the Vice President will deliver remarks at a campaign event. These remarks in Park City, UT will be covered be an editorial pool.
At 6:10 PM MT, the Vice President will depart Salt Lake City, UT en route to Los Angeles, CA. This departure from Salt Lake City International Airport will be pooled press.
At 6:50 PM PT, the Vice President will arrive in Los Angeles, CA. This arrival at Los Angeles International Airport will be pooled press.
At 7:35 PM PT, the Vice President will deliver remarks at a campaign event. These remarks will be closed press.

Several Trump supporters chanted at people cueing to enter and then walked away. Volunteers are handing out water bottles. It is currently 95 degrees with an expected high of 107 degrees.

The vice president was en route to the venue from Harry Reid airport at 11:11am. A media release prior to the rally framed the event as a post-debate campaign stop to underscore election stakes for Latino voters.

At the venue, approximately several hundred attendees rallied inside, who are largely Latino. Before the VP spoke, Paty Cantú, Ivet Aldaba, Governor Michelle Grisham, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, and Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto took the stage. The VP arrived at 11:29am but has not taken the stage.

In interviews with voters in attendance, Clio Calvo-Platero, the deputy communications director for Nevada Democrats, asked for interviews to conclude when the voters began criticizing the campaign.

Calvo-Platero followed your pooler as he interviewed voters and recorded the interviews.
Twice she tried to end the interviews when the voters began to criticize Biden.
Democratic voter Amy Nelson said that the debate was "terrible."

"You can't tell me that there's not anyone better —" Nelson said, hoping there was another candidate who could take his place.

"We're at a Joe Biden event, so I'm going to cut you off there, sorry," Calvo-Platero said before Nelson finished her statement.

Stephen Stubbs, an undecided voter, criticized Mr. Biden's "mental acuity."

"Who's running the country?" Stubbs recalled saying after watching the presidential debate. "Let Kamala in!" he added, hoping Biden would step down and nominate Harris as president.

Calvo-Platero said "I'm going to stop it here, sorry. If I can, it's a Biden event. Is that okay?"

Stubbs continued with his comments.
The next pool report will contain quotes from voters and color from the vice president's remarks.

VP travel pool report #1a – Correction

CORRECTION: Clio Calvo-Platero is the deputy communications director for the Biden campaign in Nevada.

VP travel pool report #2 – VP speaks at Vegas rally

On background from a campaign official:

On Friday, June 28, Vice President Harris will participate in a post-debate campaign event in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Additional speakers at the event included: Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno, Ivet Aldaba, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Sen. Mark Kelly, Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, Sen. Jacky Rosen, and Dr. Norma Ramirez.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff attended.

Singer songwriter Paty Cantú performed.

———————

After a short break in programming, Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen spoke and then Norma Miranda, a DACA recipient, introduced the VP who took the stage at 12:08pm to cheers. Harris said that President Biden acknowledged that debate night was not his best night. She outlined three notes post-debate that she considered important:

"The stakes of this race could not be higher. Second, the contrast in this election could not be more stark. And third, we believe in our president Joe Biden, and we believe in what he stands for," Harris said to applause.

She highlighted that former President Trump made false statements throughout the debate. The VP spent a large part of her speech discussing Biden's record and debate performance.

"In a real leader, character matters more than style," Harris said. "Trump does not have the character to be the president."

"Only one candidate on that stage has the endorsement of his vice president," Harris added to laughs, referring to the fact that former Vice President Mike Pence has not endorsed Trump in 2024.

Harris said that she is confident in Biden's abilities to lead.

"In the Oval Office, negotiating bipartisan deals, I see him in the situation room keeping our country safe," Harris said. She further said that the race will not be decided by "one night in June."

The vice president stopped speaking at 12:20pm. She posed for photos with attendees as Latin music played the event out. The motorcade left the rally venue at 12:31pm headed for Harry Reid airport where AF2 will take her to Salt Lake City airport. She will be en route to a Park City, Utah fundraiser.

VP travel pool report #3 – VP departs Vegas

The VP's motorcade arrived at Harry Reid around 12:47pm. After taking a photo next to AF2's engine with Doug Emhoff, she boarded at 12:52pm. The plane began taxiing for takeoff at 12:57pm.

It is a short flight to Salt Lake City.

VP travel pool report #4 — Harris arrives in Utah

AF2 touched down at Salt Lake City International Airport at approximately 3:03pm. The vice president deplaned alongside Doug Emhoff at 3:10pm. She waved at the reporter. Like earlier in the day, Harris is wearing a light blue pant suit. The motorcade departed at 3:12pm. The drive to Park City, Utah, a ski town, is about 40 minutes.
Pool is rolling in a press van en route to Park City. I will send more information on the fundraiser host and location as soon as it is available.

VP travel pool report #5 — VP at Utah fundraiser

On background from the Biden-Harris campaign:

The Vice President is attending a Biden Victory Fund event hosted by Amb. Mark Gilbert and Nancy Gilbert.

—————————
Several onlookers throughout the drive to Park City waved as the motorcade went by. One protestor held up a sign reading "Stop the Genocide" and made a peace sign. For the last part of the drive, the motorcade left the highway and went up a series of winding roads to the fundraiser location, a private home on the side of a mountain. My elevation app indicates the location is 8120 feet above sea level. The VP's motorcade arrived at 4:00pm Mountain Time.

A security official informed reporters at approximately 4:15pm that the Second Gentleman will shortly make remarks. The official asked if press could be present and was told no.
Press were let into the living room of the home at 4:41pm while Emhoff was still speaking at a dais. It was full of about 100 attendees. Emhoff said that the business community "cannot go back" to a second Trump term.

"We need to have his back in this election," Emhoff said of Biden. He briefly took questions from the crowd. Mark Gilbert encouraged Emhoff to keep speaking.

Nancy Gilbert introduced the VP by asking where the Democratic Party goes from here. Harris began speaking at 5:01pm.

The VP shared similar points to her rally in Las Vegas, highlighting Biden's record on infrastructure, drug pricing, and abortion access. She again said the president's debate performance was "a slow start" but added that Biden is a "profound thinker."

"The list of accomplishments reads like a CVS receipt, it just goes on and on," Harris said about Biden's presidency. She finished speaking at 5:14pm, then press were instructed to leave.

Park City Major Nann Worel and Utah Democratic Party Chair Diane Lewis were also in attendance.

The motorcade left the fundraiser at 5:37pm.

Unless there is additional news, there will be one more pool report tonight about the VP's travel from Salt Lake City Airport back to Los Angeles.

VP travel pool report #6 — Return to LA

The VP's motorcade arrived at SLC at 6:25pm. She waved to the reporter then boarded AF2 at 6:27pm. AF2 was wheels up heading to LAX at 6:37pm.

AF2 touched down in Los Angeles at 7:02pm Pacific time. The vice president deplaned at 7:14pm. As of the public schedule sent this morning, she is slated to speak at campaign event closed to the press at 7:35pm. This is the last event on the VP's public schedule for today. Your pooler is signing off — goodnight!