During Harris' Milwaukee-area rally, Donald Trump commits to a debate, calls her 'radical'

MADISON – As Kamala Harris rallied voters in West Allis on Tuesday, Donald Trump committed to at least one debate with the Democratic vice president who launched her presidential campaign in the battleground state of Wisconsin.

The Republican former president also pledged to visit the U.S.-Mexico border as many times as “necessary” during his campaign, characterizing Harris as the country’s “border czar” and depicting her record as one of failures.

“She's the same as Biden, but much more radical. She's a radical left person, and this country doesn't want a radical left person today,” Trump said. “She's far more radical than he is.”

Trump accused Harris, 59, of playing “the race card” during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary and questioned why Biden selected her as his running mate.

“She was by far the nastiest to Joe Biden. I was so surprised that he took her,” Trump said. “There was nobody nastier than her. She played the race card at a level that you rarely see, and she really was very nasty to him, and then he picked her. So I don't get that exactly now. They act like they're great friends, but you don't really recover from that.”

The vice president's remarks at West Allis Central High School came as the presidential race was shaken up with about 105 days until Election Day.

5 takeaways: from Kamala Harris' first presidential rally before packed crowd at West Allis Central High School in Wisconsin

Just 48 hours prior, Democratic Presidnet Joe Biden, 81, dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris following weeks of questions from within his own party about his age and viability. And the change came just days after Republicans formally made Trump, 78, the Republican presidential nominee at a Milwaukee convention that followed an attempt on the former president’s life.

Speaking in a packed gymnasium outside Milwaukee just two days after she effectively replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket, Harris put it bluntly.

“Ultimately in this election we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in?" Harris said at her first campaign stop as Democrats’ presumptive nominee. “Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?"

"We each have the power to answer that question," she added. "The power is with the people."

Jessie Opoien can be reached at j[email protected].

Mary Spicuzza and Lawrence Andrea of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Donald Trump commits to a debate, calls Kamala Harris 'radical'