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By Mandy Taheri
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In her bid to win over Florida, Vice President Kamala Harris took her campaign to The Villages on Saturday, a Republican and Donald Trump stronghold, where videos of crowds of golf carts lined up for a Harris event have gone viral on social media.
Last Sunday, President Joe Biden exited the presidential race after mounting pressure to end his reelection campaign over his lackluster debate performance against Trump and concerns surrounding his age. Shortly after dropping out, Biden endorsed Harris for the Oval Office.
On Saturday, as part of Harris' "Weekend of Action" campaign, the vice president campaigned in The Villages, a sprawling retirement community in central Florida that typically supports Trump, her Republican opponent. Trump previously won Florida, a coveted state with 30 Electoral College votes, in 2016 and 2020.
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Democratic candidate Barbie Harden Hall, who is running to represent the district, posted videos on X, formerly Twitter, of Harris supporters, writing: "HUNDREDS OF GOLF CARTS! And I don't even know how many supporters throughout the route! The Villages, Florida is FIRED UP for @KamalaHarris."
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Hall's videos showing caravans of golf carts, the main form of transportation in the community, decked out in American flags as they entered the rally have since gone viral, with several Harris supporters resharing them.
Jon Cooper, a Democratic fundraiser, reposted Hall's video reaching over 5 million views, as of Sunday afternoon. "Trust me when I say it's a SUPER-RED community that's usually a real hotbed of Trump support. The fact that there are over 200 golf carts at this rally for @KamalaHarris today is INCREDIBLE!" he wrote.
Hall's video has received over 41,000 views, while a similar video on the X account @Harris_wins, has been viewed over 3.6 million times.
Newsweek reached out to Harris' campaign to verify details of the rally in an email on Sunday.
Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Jaime Harrison said on MSNBC's The Weekend on Sunday, "The Villages is a ruby red—there were 500 golf cart seniors riding around, and probably voted for Donald Trump, previously, supporting Kamala Harris. This is an energy on the ground I have not seen since Barack Obama in 2008."
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's campaign for comment via email on Sunday.
The Florida Democratic Party supported Harris' campaign trip and wrote in a press release on Sunday that she has "energized the entire Democratic base" within the past week, adding, "Nearly 10,000 new Floridian volunteers—many from traditionally conservative places like The Villages—have stepped up to fight back against Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, and the extremism of the Republican Party."
As Biden only left the race a week ago, there are limited polls on a potential Harris-Trump match up in the state.
A Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll of voters across nine states, most of them swing states, conducted between July 22 and 24, found Trump leading Harris in Florida by an additional percentage point, 8, than by her predecessor Biden. The poll surveyed 6,927 voters and it's not clear how many were from Florida.
Update 7/28/24, 4:20 p.m. ET: This article's headline was updated.
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