Vice Presidential Pool Reports of October 15, 2024

VP pool report 1 - motorcade

Good afternoon from Detroit - VP's motorcade is rolling out on the way to a pair of campaign stops and an audio interview with Charlamagne Tha God, co-host of The Breakfast Club. We didn't see VP before we left. White House director of the Office of Public Engagement Cedric Richmond is joining us today.

Our pool vans departed from the Detroit Westin at 3:11, after assembling out front of the old headquarters of the Detroit Plain Dealer - the state's first commercially-successful Black newspaper, opened in 1883.

VP pool report 2 - rolling

We are on route to a local small business in Detroit; a handful of people stopped to take videos of the motorcade but we saw no protesters or supporters.

From the OVP:

Vice President Harris is stopping by Norwest Art Gallery, a local Black-owned small business in Detroit, for a conversation with Black men from the Detroit area, focused on entrepreneurship. Don Cheadle, Delroy Lindo, and Detroit native Cornelius Smith Jr. will also be in attendance.

VP pool report 3

We are assembled at Norwest Art Gallery. A few dozen Black supporters are here to meet the VP. Your pooler has not spotted Don Cheadle yet.

Previous statement was shared by Harris-Walz campaign, not OVP. Apologies for the mixup.

VP pool report 4

Kamala Harris has arrived at the gallery and is now greeting supporters. Don Cheadle, who was obstructed by an amplifier, got a warm hug and greeting from the VP. She posed for photos with numerous people.Quotes follow.

One supporter recalled meeting Harris in 2021: Harris told him she remembered him.

"21 days. 21 days, and early voting starts in four days here."

Thanked Delroy Lindo for his years of political support to her campaigns.

VP pool report 5 - holding for gaggle

We are holding outside of Norwest gallery; VP is set to gaggle with pool after finishing her private remarks to supporters.

VP pool report 6

We are packed up and rolling to the next event. Gaggle canceled due to time constraints.

VP travel pool 7 - Charlemagne interview

VP has begun her audio town hall with Charlamagne Tha God on iHeartMedia. We are holding in another room, listening to an audio feed. Station staff says clips and a full video feed will likely be available later.

VP travel pool 9 - in studio guests

We are loaded in the vans and rolling from iHeartMedia to our last stop of the day. An ordered list of in-studio guests who asked questions to VP during the town hall follows.

Pastor Solomon Kinloch Jr, Pastor, Triumph Church

Zeek Williams, Activist, Co-Founder New Era Detroit

Chivez "Icewear Vezzo" Smith, Rapper

Eric Stephen Thomas, Writer, Activist

VP travel pool 10 - watch party arrival

We have arrived at a small business where roughly 100 people gathered to watch VP's townhall with Charlamagne Tha God.

Reportable, from Harris-Walz campaign:

"Vice President Harris is dropping by a watch party of her iHeart radio conversation at Cred Cafe, a local Detroit small business owned by former NBA players Joe and Jamal Crawford. The Vice President will deliver brief remarks and be introduced by Tommey Walker, founder and owner of Detroit vs. Everybody. Don Cheadle, Delroy Lindo, and Detroit native Cornelius Smith Jr. will also be in attendance."

VP pool report 11

VP Harris is addressing the crowd here at the watch party after being gifted a "Detroit vs Everbody" t-shirt from the brand's founder. Afterwards, she lingered for selfies with supporters.

She said she feels a "kindred spirit" with Detroit and remarked again that early voting begins in Michigan in four days. Most of her address was focused on the economy and her campaign plans to accelerate economic opportunities for Black voters and all Americans.

A new generation of leadership, she said, was "about making sure that people have access to opportunity, which is why my plan is to build what I call an opportunity economy, which includes for home ownership, giving people who are first time homeowners at $25,000 down payment assistance to be able to buy their first home. Which is why I know, when I look at the tax code, a $5,000 deduction for startup companies, for small businesses, is not enough for anybody to start up a small business in 2024 and it's why I'm extending it to $50,000 to give people that opportunity."

VP travel pool report 12 - updated speakers and lid

Update to the previous report - the speakers who introduced VP were Detroit Vs Everybody co-founders Tommey Walker and Sean Xavier Williams. VP and the pool have returned to the hotel.

And that's all, folks. We have a lid.