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    • 6 Takeaways from Kamala Harris’ Closing Speech
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    6 Takeaways from Kamala Harris’ Closing Speech

    Umito Posted on

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    WASHINGTON- Kamala Harris made her latest argument against Donald Trump’s return to the White House, calling her Republican rival “consumed with grievances” while portraying herself as focused on the needs of Americans, in a speech billed Tuesday evening as an “argument final”. before next week’s elections.

    Harris sought to crystallize a contrast with Trump to attract a handful of undecided voters who could influence elections in seven hotly contested battleground states. According to the campaign, about 75,000 people attended the event at the Ellipse on the National Mall, making it the largest event of his White House bid.

    “America, we know what Donald Trump has in mind: more chaos, more division and policies that help those at the top and hurt everyone else,” Harris said in a 30-minute speech as Trump also held a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. . “I propose a different path.”

    Yet Harris’ speech was almost immediately overshadowed by President Joe Biden, who undermined one of the main themes of his speech — a call for unity and civility — by appearing to characterize Trump supporters as ” trash” at another campaign event.

    Here are six takeaways from the address:

    ‘We know who Donald Trump is,’ says Harris

    Harris depicts Trump, the Republican candidateas a vengeful “little tyrant” who only seeks himself and “unchecked power”, arguing that he would bring an “enemies list” to the White House while she would bring a “to-do list » of priorities.

    “Look, we know who Donald Trump is,” Harris said. “He was the one who stood in 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.”

    More: Kamala Harris checks in on those undecided voters with one final warning about Trump

    The Ellipse was chosen as the setting for Harris’ speech not only to evoke memories of the January 6 attack on the Capitol, in which Trump supporters attempted to stop Congress from certifying the election victory of Biden. But with the White House as a backdrop, the venue was meant to remind Americans of the “gravity of work,” the Democratic presidential campaign said.

    Harris said one of Trump’s “biggest priorities is freeing the violent extremists” who led the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol., a reference to that of his opponent campaign commitment to “absolutely” pardon convicted criminals “if they are innocent.” And she denounced Trump’s term “the enemy within” to describe his political opponents.

    “This is not a presidential candidate who is thinking about how to improve his life,” Harris said. “Donald Trump spent a decade trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other. That’s what he is, but America, I’m here tonight to say that’s not what he is. that we are.”

    Plea for unity and “locking arms”

    Harris appealed for unity, arguing that even if Trump belittles and threatens her adversaries, she would work with them.

    “I don’t believe that anyone who disagrees with me is the enemy,” Harris said. “He wants to put them in jail. I’m going to give them a seat at the table.”

    This opening seemed to speak directly to Republican voters who are not fans of Trump but are still hesitant to vote for a Democrat. On the campaign trail, Harris underlined his support former Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney and more than 230 former White House officials past Republican administrations.

    “We need to stop pointing fingers and start shaking hands,” Harris said. “It’s time to turn the page on drama and conflict, fear and division. It’s time for a new generation of leaders in America.”

    Harris made a promise to his skeptics.

    “I’ll be honest with you. I’m not perfect. I make mistakes,” Harris said. “But here’s what I promise you. I will always listen to you. Even if you don’t vote for me. I will always tell you the truth, even if it’s hard to hear.”

    More: ‘Obsessed with his grievances’: Harris slams Trump rally at Madison Square Garden

    Biden undermines message by triggering GOP backlash

    The message of unity in Harris’ speech, however, was marred by remarks that evening by Biden, who did not attend the speech and was on the sidelines for much of Harris’ campaign.

    “The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden appeared to say of Trump during a campaign call focused on Latino voters. “His demonization of Latinos is unacceptable and un-American.”

    Biden responded to a widely criticized insult by actor Tony Hinchcliffewho, at a Trump rally Sunday at New York’s Madison Square Garden, called Puerto Rico a “floating pile of garbage.”

    More: Who is Tony Hinchcliffe, Trump’s Madison Square Garden warm-up?

    Republicans seized on Biden’s remarks. “Moments ago, Joe Biden said our supporters were trash,” Sen. Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, said at Trump’s campaign rally in Allentown, Pa., as he stood by of Trump. “We are not trash. We are patriots who love America.”

    Biden then issued a statement seeking to clarify that he was calling the comedian, a Trump supporter, trash.

    “Earlier today, I called the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by the Trump supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally trash — which is the only word I can think of to describe it “Biden said. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I wanted to say. The comments at this rally do not reflect who we are as a nation.”

    Message intended for a small portion of undecided voters

    Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, in a statement on Harris’ speech, accused the vice president of “lying, insulting and clinging to the past” to hide the administration’s failures Biden-Harris.

    Before the speech, the Harris campaign said the closing argument was aimed at two different audiences of undecided voterstotaling about 3 to 5 percent of the electorate, which could swing a close election.

    One camp is to “persuade voters to participate,” a Harris official told USA TODAY. This includes young voters, voters of color and others who are inclined to vote for Harris but still need to be motivated. This group includes so-called “poorly informed” voters who do not closely follow the daily news of the campaign.

    The second group is more engaged traditional swing voters — independent and Republican voters in suburban areas who may have supported Nikki Haley in the GOP presidential primaries against Trump but who don’t yet agree with Harris.

    “These are really the people we’ve been talking to from the beginning,” Harris campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon told reporters. “And there is no doubt that we believe we have the opportunity to move past support for Trump.”

    Last minute introduction

    Harris highlighted the unusual circumstances of the election. She became the Democratic nominee after Biden withdrew from the race exactly 100 days ago.

    She set up an instant campaign to try to introduce herself to voters. Yet, a few days before Election Day, some still say they don’t know enough about her.

    “I recognize that this has not been a typical campaign,” Harris said, drawing some laughter from the crowd. “I know many of you are still figuring out who I am.”

    Harris said she has spent most of her career outside of Washington “so I know not all the good ideas come from here.” She touted her record as a prosecutor who fought “tough fights against bad actors and powerful interests.”

    “This is what my mother instilled in me: a desire to hold accountable those who use their wealth or power to take advantage of others, a desire to protect hard-working Americans who are not always seen or heard and who deserve a voice.”

    Harris on Biden: “My presidency will be different”

    Harris used her speech to try to answer one of the most recurring questions of her campaign: how her presidency would differ from Biden’s four years in office.

    “I will bring my own experiences and ideas to the Oval Office. My presidency will be different because the challenges we face are different,” Harris said.

    Harris said that when she and Biden took office in January 2021, the top priority as a nation was to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and “save the economy.” “Now our biggest challenge is to reduce costs – costs that were already increasing before the pandemic and are still too high. I understand,” she said.

    Harris has faced the challenge of trying to chart her own course while remaining loyal to the president she serves — whose approval rating has remained low for much of his presidency.

    Harris ended her speech with a patriotic tone, reminding Americans of those who fought in Normandy and for civil rights and equality for women.

    “They did not fight, sacrifice and give their lives just to see us undermine our fundamental freedoms. They did not do this just to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant,” he said. she declared, referring to Trump.

    “This United States of America is not a vessel for the schemes of would-be dictators. The United States of America is the greatest idea mankind has ever conceived.”

    Contact Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.

    Umito
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