Vice President Kamala Harris used her final big campaign speech to launch a blistering attack on former President Donald J. Trump, calling her rival “disaffected and seeking unchecked power” and calling herself He promoted himself as a warrior who would lead a new era. A generation of leadership.
In a speech before what her campaign said was about 75,000 people gathered at the Ellipse, a park just south of the White House in Washington, Ms. Harris gestured to the country’s seats of power and expressed fears such as: He brought this up to sharpen his point. Riots broke out less than two miles to the east.
“In 90 days, either Donald Trump or I will be in the Oval Office,” she said, pointing to the building behind her. “If elected, Donald Trump will walk into the Oval Office on his first day with a list of his enemies. If elected, he’s going to come to work with a to-do list.”
But her speech had to carry more weight than a simple attack on Mr. Trump. So, on the 101st day of her improbable presidential campaign, Harris paused to introduce herself as a former prosecutor who has long worked in the public interest, telling the audience that she has spent most of her career outside Washington. He reminded the audience and assured the audience: Not all good ideas come from here. ”
Harris made her point in a plain but forceful way, telling the audience that while she would not be a perfect president, she would govern with unity in mind, based on a “lifelong instinct to protect.” spoke. People who have been abused or victimized.
But she also used the arc of history to make her point, saying that this country was born “when we wrested freedom from petty tyrants,” and that for centuries Americans had lost the promise of democracy. He said he has fought against domestic and foreign threats to protect the country.
“They did not fight, sacrifice and give their lives just to see us give up our fundamental freedoms and submit to the will of another despicable tyrant.” said Harris. “The United States of America is not a vessel for a would-be dictator’s conspiracy. The United States of America is the greatest idea ever devised by mankind.”
Throughout her speech, Harris instead tried to keep the focus on comparisons between herself and Trump. As she moved forward with her policy plan, she warned that his proposals would continue to harm the American people.
He said he would once again seek to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which is now popular among most Americans, but Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday said he would seek to overhaul its provisions. suggested.
Harris said Trump would again enact tax cuts for the nation’s highest earners. And he reiterated that his administration will crack down on corporate price gouging and help lower costs for Americans through tax credits for homebuyers, parents and caregivers.
“There’s something frankly upsetting about people being treated unfairly or ignored, and I don’t like it,” Harris said. “If you give me a chance to fight for you, If you give it to me, I won’t do anything,” he added. To the world that stands in my way. ”
He said the Harris administration would serve as a bulwark against numerous abortion restrictions and highlighted the potential for widespread rollbacks of reproductive rights. She pointed to other plans laid out by Project 2025, a policy blueprint for the conservative presidential administration created by many of Mr. Trump’s allies.
“I’m going to fight to take back what Donald Trump and his hand-picked Supreme Court justices took away from American women,” Harris told a roaring crowd.
In her speech, Harris implicitly revived a central but unfulfilled promise from her predecessor, President Biden, that she could be a leader who would unite Americans. It was an attempt to revive the support she had garnered from Republicans and persuade undecided voters to consider what their future holds under President Harris.
“I am committed to listening to the experts,” Harris said. “To those affected by my decisions. And to those who disagree with me.”
She continued, “Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe that people who disagree with me are the enemy. He wants to put them in jail. I’ll ask you to sit at the table.”
Even as she asserted herself, her warning against Trump remained at the heart of her discussion. She has repeatedly tried to link Trump’s actions and increasingly threatening language to the forces behind the 2021 Capitol riot, saying a second term for Trump poses a serious threat to American civil life. insisted.
“Donald Trump has spent 10 years trying to keep Americans divided and afraid of each other. That’s who he is,” Harris said. “But, America, I’m here tonight to say: That’s not us.”
Her speech came days after speakers at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden targeted Black people, Puerto Ricans, Palestinians, Jews, Harris and other Democrats. Despite efforts by Trump’s campaign, he never distanced himself from these comments.
Hoping to strike a sharp contrast with Trump, Harris spent much of the day Thursday in a historic building in Washington, rehearsing her speech and making last-minute revisions as her advisers watched. went. The goal was to hone the best arguments to win over people who distrust both Harris and Trump but may not be able or willing to tolerate Trump’s reelection. .
Of course, Harris enters the campaign’s final days with some vulnerabilities, including being loyal to Biden on most of his policies, including U.S. support for Israeli military operations in Gaza. are. The election race remains close. The two candidates are nearly evenly matched in every battleground state, according to New York Times polling averages.
Harris only briefly mentioned immigration, the other biggest issue facing Americans, during her speech. She downplayed the debate as “an issue that scares people from voting,” calling immigration a problem that needs to be solved and granting citizenship to farm workers and other immigrants brought to the United States as children. We proposed a “way to get it.” She did not mention Gaza, but on the outskirts of the Oval several people held signs protesting the war.
Before finishing her remarks and turning her attention back to the campaign trail, she placed herself and her audience, spread across the Oval and far away on the grounds of the Washington Monument, squarely in American history. .
“That’s why I’m in this race,” she said. “To fight for the people, as I have always done.”
Reporting contributed by Josh Williams in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Keith Collins in New York, Nicholas Nehamas in Madison, Wisconsin, and Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Erica L. Green in Washington.
