100 days after changing into the Democratic Social gathering’s nominee for president, it was time for Kamala Harris to current her closing argument.
With the White Home as her backdrop and tens of 1000’s of supporters packing the outside area, she set out her stall to the American public.
What she supplied was a binary alternative; me or him, cohesion or chaos.
“On day one, if elected, Donald Trump will walk in with an enemies list. I will walk in with a to-do list,” she mentioned to very large cheers from the gang.
The Harris marketing campaign had pointedly picked the Ellipse in Washington DC because the venue for this deal with. Simply past the White Home’s south garden, the backyard was the place Donald Trump spoke on 6 January 2021 earlier than droves of his followers.
Standing in nearly the identical spot as Ms Harris now was, he made false claims concerning the election being stolen and urged his supporters to “fight like hell”. At the least 2,000 of them, in line with the FBI, then stormed the Capitol.
“We know who Donald Trump is, he is the person who stood at this spot four years ago and sent an armed mob to the US Capitol,” Ms Harris mentioned.
There have been nods within the speech to reproductive rights, to the economic system and immigration. However it’s clear that the Harris marketing campaign believes the easiest way to win over wavering voters within the ultimate week is specializing in the hazard, they are saying, Trump presents to democracy.
“I think she put forward the contrast between the two of them very well,” one man, sporting a camouflage Harris/Walz baseball cap, tells me as he exits the rally.
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What was Kamala Harris’ closing argument?
One of many criticisms levelled at Ms Harris is that she hasn’t outlined herself and her insurance policies sufficiently to voters. However some within the crowd bristled at that suggestion.
“I think people will say they don’t know enough about her,” mentioned Mary Laxton, a 70-year-old from the important thing swing state of Pennsylvania who campaigns for Ms Harris. “But I think for some people, what they really are saying is, ‘I don’t want a woman as president’. I hate to say that, but that’s what I believe.
“She might have began out the gate a little bit slowly, however she has come on so robust and has been very clear about who she is, what she would do for the US and for all individuals, particularly ladies.”
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Ms Harris tried to attract a direct distinction with Donald Trump, whose personal closing rally at Madison Sq. Backyard was criticised for its hate-filled rhetoric and racist undertones. A comic who appeared on the stage earlier than Mr Trump spoke described Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage”.
Ms Harris did not deal with the rumbling controversy over Mr Trump’s rally. However from contained in the White Home simply yards away, President Biden waded in on a marketing campaign video name.
“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage,” he mentioned. “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”
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Biden accused of calling Trump supporters ‘garbage’
It recalled feedback made by Hillary Clinton within the 2016 marketing campaign during which she described “half” of Mr Trump’s supporters as a “basket of deplorables”.
Mr Biden’s remark was equally ill-advised. Though he’s now not the nominee, it threatened to overshadow Ms Harris’ huge speech. It was additionally a reminder that with this race teetering on a knife edge, each phrase and each transfer from the candidates and their surrogates, must be measured.
