The Democratic Party’s vice-presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, on Thursday blasted President Donald Trump for having “failed” in and “shown reckless disregard” for the
well-being of the American people.

“Donald Trump has failed at the most basic and important job of a President of the United States. He failed to protect the American people. Plain and simple. Trump showed what we, in the legal profession, would call a reckless disregard for the well-being of the American people,” Harris said.

In a blistering speech hours before Trump was to the deliver his acceptance speech to the Republican National Convention, Harris alleged that the President’s policies have been “a reckless disregard” for the danger a pandemic would pose to American lives.

“For the devastation it would do to our economy. For the damage it would do to communities of colour who have been subjected to structural racism for generations. For the chaos that would upend our daily lives… make it impossible for many of our kids to go to school… make it impossible to live normally and with certainty,” she said.

“He never appreciated that a President swears an oath before God and country to protect America against threats seen and unseen. It’s his duty. It’s his obligation to protect us. And yet, he has failed. Miserably,” she said.

“Here’s the thing, Donald Trump’s incompetence is nothing new. That has always been on full display. But in January of this year, it became deadly. That’s when the threat of a virus that would endanger the world first emerged. Trump dismissed the threat. Joe Biden sounded the alarm,” she said.

There was no immediate reaction from the President. This was the first major policy attack by Harris against Trump.