Biden camp launches RNC counternarrative, sends out Harris for speech before Trump's big night

Hours before President Trump was to deliver his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, the Biden camp launched a counternarrative with vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris going on TV for a prebuttal address that focused on the racial and social unrest in the U.S. over the past several months.

"Today, we see pain, hurt and destruction in the aftermath of another black man shot by police, Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times in the back in broad daylight in front of his three young sons," Harris said four days after the incident in Kenosha, Wisc.

Harris reminded the audience that running mate Joe Biden recently said: "This pierces the soul of our nation. It must end."  

Harris also made clear that she and Biden support the protests but not the violence and destruction associated with them. 

"The vigilantes will not derail our path to justice," she said.

Harris promised a Biden administration would bring police reform, broader criminal justice reform, and better handling of the COVID-19 crisis. 

Trump will accept the Republican nomination from the White House's South Lawn, where he intends to persuade voters that America cannot go back to Biden's failed policies and efforts over his 47 years of elected office.

Meanwhile, demonstrators began arriving Thursday in the Nation's Capital for Friday's Get Your Knee Off Our Necks Commitment March on the 57th anniversary of the historic March on Washington at which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Harris is expected to participate in the march alongside the event's organizer Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King II, Attorney Benjamin Crump, and the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Eric Garner. Each of them were killed in contact with police.

Black Lives Matter chapters from across the country also plan to participate in the march.

The focus of the march will be a day of action to demonstrate a commitment to fighting for police and criminal justice reform, police accountability, and voter protection.

Sharpton announced the march in June during the eulogy he gave at the funeral for Floyd, who died May 25 after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest.

D.C. police are warning drivers to prepare for "extensive road closures" from 6 a.m. Friday until midnight, according to WTOP in Washington.

The Biden campaign will also be airing a television ad during the last night of Republican National Convention.