Kamala Harris Says Biden Is a ‘Fighter’ at North Carolina Rally

On a day when President Biden is holding a high-stakes news conference in which members of his own party will be measuring his vigor and strength, Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday cast Mr. Biden as a “fighter” prepared to overcome the crisis gripping his campaign, and argued that a second Trump term would make Americans less safe and reverse the Biden administration’s accomplishments.

“We always knew this election would be tough, and the past few days have been a reminder that running for president of the United States is never easy, nor should it be,” Ms. Harris said at a high school in Greensboro, N.C. “But one thing we know about our president, Joe Biden, is that he is a fighter.”

Ms. Harris followed a familiar playbook that the administration deployed in its efforts to rally Black voters: detailing economic and health care initiatives enacted by the administration that the White House says will benefit Black Americans, including policies that would drop medical debt from credit reports and forgive student loans for public servants.

“President Biden and I fight for the American people,” the vice president said. “Donald Trump does not. He fights for himself.”

And in a flourish timed to the NATO summit’s final day in Washington, Ms. Harris drew a contrast between Mr. Biden and his predecessor by underscoring their sharply divergent stances on the alliance.

Ms. Harris reminded voters that Mr. Trump had said that he would encourage the Russian government to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries that had not paid the money they owed to the military alliance.