In closing message, Harris presents herself as a unifier, offering a ‘new generation of leadership’

Speaking on the Ellipse, a park between the White House and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, Kamala Harris presented two contrasting visions of America – hers and Mr. Trump’s

With one week to go for the U.S. elections, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Presidency, Vice President Kamala Harris, presented her “closing argument” on Tuesday (October 29, 2024) night, for why she - and not her Republican opponent Donald Trump - should run the country.

Speaking on the Ellipse, a park between the White House and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC,  Ms. Harris presented two contrasting visions of America – hers and Mr. Trump’s, as she addressed a crowd of tens of thousands. The location was part of the message. Mr. Trump delivered a speech from the Ellipse on January 6, 2021, which roused a mob of his supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol.

In her speech, Ms. Harris adopted a new, tougher, tone on illegal migration, spoke about her economic plans and drew a line between herself and the Biden administration.

She also presented herself as the unifying candidate, as opposed to Mr. Trump, whom she linked to conflict and drama.

“He is the person who stood at this very spot nearly four years ago and sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol to overturn the will of the people in a free and fair election that he knew he lost,” Ms. Harris said, telling supporters this was probably the “most important vote” they would ever cast, a choice between “freedom” and  “chaos and division”.

“This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance, and out for unchecked power,” she said, referring to Mr. Trump’s suggestion that he would use the U.S. military against “the enemy within”.

“It is time to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms,” she said, offering a  “new generation of leadership”, a phrase she has used before to differentiate herself from U.S. President Joe Biden as well as Mr. Trump, both of whom are significantly older than her.

Ms. Harris also said her presidency would be different from Mr. Biden’s because the challenges were different, as she attempted, again, to rectify electorally damaging messaging from weeks earlier,  when she said that her policy positions were aligned with Mr. Biden’s.

Now that the recovery from the pandemic was complete, the focus, she said, was on cutting costs. Ms. Harris spoke at some length about her economic plans – from capping the price of insulin to offering tax credits for new parents. Mr Trump would cut taxes for billionaires and big corporations, she said, adding that his plan to levy import duties would effectively be a ‘Trump Sales Tax’ on imported goods that Americans buy.

On immigration, Ms. Harris said she would “quickly remove those who arrive here lawfully” and prosecute the cartels. She blamed Mr. Trump for sabotaging legislation on border security that the Biden administration was on the verge of passing.  

“At the same time, we must acknowledge, we are a nation of immigrants,” she said, promising to work on a path to citizenship for some categories of migrants via immigration reform legislation that has been stalled in the U.S. Congress for years.

The U.S. military would be most lethal fighting force in the world under her command, she said, adding that she would strengthen America’s role in the world.

“World leaders think that Donald Trump is an easy mark. Easy to manipulate with flattery and favor,” Ms. Harris said.

The Vice President warned that Mr. Trump would further clamp down on reproductive rights, specifically abortion and in vitro fertilization (IVF) and that women’s pregnancies would be monitored.  (Mr Trump has distanced himself from a right-wing governing plan called Project 2025 that says states should report the number and timing of abortions, among other details, or risk losing certain types of funding. Democrats have linked Mr. Trump to the plan, whose authors include his former advisors.)

On Tuesday (October 29, 2024), Ms Harris  portrayed herself as an outsider to Washington. .

“So I know that not all good ideas come from here,” she said, adding that she could take on powerful interests.

Ms. Harris was preceded by speakers who spoke to various aspects of her policy (or the detrimental effects Mr. Trump’s policies had on them). The Harris campaign said 75,000 people attended the rally.

Published - October 30, 2024 09:39 am IST