Energized crowd greets Harris at Provincetown fundraiser

By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN

(CNN) — Defending Joe Biden and ripping into Donald Trump, Kamala Harris got one of her most roaring responses in years as she spoke at a fundraiser Saturday afternoon in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

The vice president didn’t directly address the turmoil facing her running mate — whom she referred to at points as “our president” and “one of the most consequential presidents in American history” — but she did speak to the anxiety pulsing through the white tent in the shadow of the Pilgrim Monument by repeating, “We are going to win this election,” and asking the crowd to tell that to their friends.

“It’s not going to be easy. But we are a group of people who understand anything worthwhile takes a lot of hard work,” Harris said. “It takes grit. It takes believing in something and then going forward.”

The event was scheduled weeks ago, in very different political circumstances. By the time she took the stage, Harris was greeted with the excitement of many in the crowd who clearly believed they might be looking at a replacement nominee and, soon, potential next president. A $1 million fundraising goal for the afternoon was more than doubled; a large oil portrait of Harris’ face was positioned on an easel; toward the back; and a woman shouting out, “Go get ‘em, Kamala!” was greeted with a huge cheer and applause.

Harris — who stood in front of a giant sign declaring the location to be “VPTOWN,” a riff on the town’s “Ptown” nickname — wasn’t the only one to get a warm reception. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is seen by some leading Democrats as a potential running mate should Harris become the nominee, spoke before she did.

Buttigieg likewise expressed support for Biden and touted his accomplishments.

“We aren’t so much holding on to a democracy as we are building one, making it more perfect, in this extraordinary American project that will turn 250 years old in 2026, during the president’s next term,” Buttigieg said.

Addressing the mood of many Democrats, Buttigieg added, “That’s what is possible if we say no to the people out there banning books and yes to the people out there building bridges. That’s why I don’t just have dread about the worst that could happen, but hope for what comes next.”

Organizers said the event raised more than $2 million, even as some big-dollar donors have held back from writing checks amid growing concerns about Biden’s candidacy, raising serious concerns about how long the campaign can continue operating in full force if circumstances don’t change.

Harris, who is being very careful with what she says during this period, did not speak separately to reporters traveling with her. But as she boarded Air Force Two and one shouted to ask whether she has spoken to Biden and whether he’s well, she flashed a thumbs-up and said yes.

At the event in front of a largely LGBTQ crowd, Harris talked about her record on key issues, including performing same-sex weddings early as San Francisco district attorney in 2004, and contrasting that to her new opponent, Trump’s running mate JD Vance, who opposed marriage equality and gender-affirming care. That, on top of Trump’s own record rolling back LGBTQ protections, Harris charged, is enough reason to oppose them.

Harris closed by invoking Harvey Milk, the famed gay political pioneer in San Francisco.

“Those who oppose progress will always try to suggest that a movement for freedom is somehow subversive and it undermines who we are as a nation.

“Harvey Milk liked to say, ‘Hope will never be silent — and neither will we,’” Harris said.

CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg contributed to this report.

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