AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

There's just over one week to go before Election Day 2024, and early voting is already underway in more than 40 states. Most polls show the race for the White House to be extremely tight. Today, former President Donald Trump is headlining at Madison Square Garden in New York City. For her part, Vice President Kamala Harris is appearing again in Pennsylvania and then traveling to Michigan tomorrow - both important swing states. We turn now to Cedric Richmond, a co-chair of the Harris-Walz campaign. Welcome to the program.

CEDRIC RICHMOND: Good morning. How are you?

RASCOE: I am good. So what do you make of polls that show that Harris is not as popular among Black men compared to Democrats in the past two presidential elections?

RICHMOND: I don't make a lot of it. I mean, African American men, Black men, are the same as any other electorate. You have to talk to them. You have to go earn their vote. But be clear about this, and I think that this is why the reporting or the issue is not top of mind for me, because African American men are still the second-largest voting bloc for Kamala Harris. African American women are number one. Go down a couple of points, and there's African American men. But the real point is that African American men want someone to talk to her - talk to them and talk about their aspirations, their dreams, their future. And they demanded that. And that's what they got in an agenda, and we see Black men coalescing around her.

RASCOE: Well, and absolutely, I mean, most Black men are still supporting Harris, but we do know that she needs - in a race this tight, even small defections could make a difference. And the reason why I talk about it - 'cause former President Obama and yesterday Michelle Obama, they've been kind of chastising Black men for not supporting Harris. Do you think that that is helpful, that kind of critical message to Black men?

RICHMOND: Look, I think the message to African American men is that they have an opportunity here. And the campaign actually has an opportunity to grow, and we can grow with African American men. And the message to African American men, Black men, is that, hey, you have a chance right here to take your future in your own hand, to determine what you want. And because you're such a key voting bloc and because this race is going to be tight, you have an opportunity here to be difference-makers and to determine who wins this campaign.

So I think it's one about excitement. It's one about opportunity. If we can grow there, which we will, that creates more of a cushion for us. But we have work, and you have to answer the questions and the issues of all voters.

RASCOE: Can you talk about, like, the messaging from Harris because you do keep hearing from voters that they want more reasons to vote for Harris, not just reasons to vote against Donald Trump? You know, now Harris is coming out and calling Trump a fascist. Obviously, other, you know, former members of Trump's campaign - Trump's administration have called him a fascist. But is focusing on that going to be enough to get her to clinch the White House because people are also asking, well, what - who is Harris? What is she going to deliver?

RICHMOND: Well, I'll answer that two ways. One, she's not dwelling on the fascist thing. That was a direct question at a town hall, and she answered it honestly. And same thing that the people who know him best say about him. Second answer I'll say to that is that the vice president is very focused on answering those questions and those issues that are top of mind for voters. So she's going to continue to drive home that she wants to bring down costs. The four major costs are housing, health care, child care and grocery costs.

And housing - she's going to build 3 million new homes. She's going to crack down on the big corporations that buy up housing, use algorithms to raise the rent. With health care, she's going to continue to expand on the Affordable Care Act and continue to provide her plan to provide home health for seniors. Child care - child tax credit that will relieve that burden, and she's going to crack down on grocery areas. So those are the areas she's going to focus on. Those are the areas that voters care about.

RASCOE: Can I talk - there are lots of people who are concerned about the potential for violence around the election. Quickly, like, what is the campaign doing to prepare for that?

RICHMOND: We will be prepared for it, and we have, you know, hundreds of lawyers that are ready and working. And part of it is we won't get caught off-guard, and we're going to be ready and prepared to defend the democracy.

RASCOE: That's Cedric Richmond, co-chair of the Harris-Walz campaign. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

RICHMOND: You're welcome. Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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