Here’s why Kamala Harris is discouraging 'lock him up' chants at her rallies

10 August 2024

When former President Donald Trump was in his first campaign, his supporters frequently chanted "lock her up" in reference to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — a slogan Trump regularly encouraged. But despite her opponent being a literal convicted felon, Harris is doing the opposite.

According to NBC News, the vice president has been quick to discourage her supporters at campaign rallies to chant "lock him up" in reference to Trump. While the 45th president of the United States could indeed be ordered to spend years behind bars when he's sentenced for his 34 felony convictions in New York next month, Harris — a former prosecutor — has been reticent to allow the chant during her stump speeches. This is despite making Trump's criminal activities a centerpiece of her attack.

"I was elected a United States senator. I was elected attorney general of the state of California. And I was a courtroom prosecutor before then," Harris said in July. "And in those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds — predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type."

Attorney Bill Shipley, who is representing several participants in the January 6, 2021 insurrection, said Harris is likely aware that any commentary she offers — or any chants she encourages – could complicate the two ongoing federal cases against the ex-president. And as a member of the California bar, he noted Harris is likely aware of ethical barriers preventing her from speaking publicly about ongoing cases.

"“Her campaign position is complicated by the fact that she’s a member of the administration, the same way that it would have been complicated for [President Joe Biden]," Shipley said.

Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz, who Harris named as her running mater earlier this week, also gestured to supporters to stop chanting "lock him up" during a campaign rally in Glendale, Arizona on Friday night. Walz encouraged attendees to instead "beat the hell out of [Trump] at the ballot box." A Harris/Walz campaign spokesperson said the same in a statement to NBC.

"Vice President Harris has a simple message: there is one way to stop Donald Trump and his harmful Project 2025 agenda and it’s at the ballot box this November," the spokesperson stated.

The former president will almost certainly avoid going to trial in either of his two federal cases prior to the November election. In the Southern District of Florida, where Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith has indicted the ex-president on 37 felonies for allegedly mishandling classified documents after he left the White House, Judge Aileen Cannon has dismissed the case. Smith appealed her ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has overturned Cannon's previous rulings in the Trump case.

Trump is also facing four felony counts in his D.C. election interference case, and Judge Tanya Chutkan is currently weighing how the Supreme Court's decision to grant Trump immunity for all official acts as president will be applied. If Trump wins the election, he could have his appointed attorney general dismiss the cases outright, or even issue a presidential pardon to himself.

Click here to read NBC's full report.

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