Updated as of 10:58 a.m. on Sept. 17 to include video of the event.
Debbie Breese said after living through Donald Trump’s presidency, she said she has no doubt that Trump is racist. As a Black woman and Democrat, Breese said she will be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris this November.
Harris spoke Sept. 12 at the Greensboro Coliseum. This event is a part of her campaign’s New Way Forward battleground tour, with the goal of reaching undecided voters.
This was her second event in North Carolina today, and both campaigns have already visited North Carolina multiple times this month.
Breese was volunteering for the Harris campaign at the event and came to represent Alamance County. She said she was excited to volunteer because she had never been to a campaign event before.
“It was jumping the whole time,” Breese said. “I posted something, ‘Ain't no party like a Carolina party.’ That's what it felt like in there, a North Carolina party.”
In her speech, Harris focused on healthcare, including expanding abortion access and decreasing North Carolinians' cost of living. In the context of the presidential debate this week, Harris said it is time for a new forward. She also said — following Trump’s post today to Truth Social that there will be no third debate — she wants to debate again, “We owe it to the voters.”
According to results of a recent Elon Poll released Aug. 27, former President Donald Trump and Harris are close in the polls — 46% for Trump and 44% for Harris.
But, in a recent YouGov poll conducted after the presidential debate this week, Harris is ahead in the polls among voters who said they watched the debate. Notably, 54.4% of voters asked in the poll felt Harris won the debate, 31.3% felt Trump won and 14.3% were unsure.
Harris also said the country is ready for a new generation of leadership, and that she will always defend the Constitution.
“That is my pledge to you,” Harris said during the event. “I will always put country above party.”
University of North Carolina, Greensboro freshman Juliana Escobar said as a Black woman, having someone she could relate to in office would be refreshing. She said as a college student so close to the event, many people across campus were talking about attending.
“I'm so glad that I can vote, and I know that my vote matters,” Escobar said. “That's very important for a lot of younger voters because I think they're kind of losing touch with that.”
Greensboro A&T student Giovani Mbata said as a second-time voter, he is not on the left or the right — but just came to hear Harris speak. Mbata said what he enjoyed most about this event was seeing people from all walks of life.
“I love people, man,” Mbata said. “Just vote for the people. I'm for the people.”
Attendees leave the building as the rally ended on Sept. 12 at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Elon freshman Hazel Silverstein said she was excited to hear Harris speak and wanted to show her support for the Democratic Party. Silverstein also said she and her friends came right after their classes — but arrived too late to make it inside. While she was disappointed to have missed it, she and her friends were watching the speech on Instagram live, she said.
“It's just going to be the first year that I can vote and it's a super big election,” Silverstein said. “I wanted to come out here with my Elon merch, support that I'm a college student and we're the future, and I wanted to hear Kamala speak.”
Breese said voters need to be paying attention, and that depending on the results of the election, people could lose their rights. Everyone needs to be voting, as it was within her lifetime that Black women could not vote, she said.
“I have friends who do not vote, and it drives me crazy,” Breese said. “I don't even want to be their friend because I think it's a disgrace that you don't vote, especially if you're Black.”
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Fiona McAllister contributed to the reporting of this story.