4 takeaways from Harris’ ‘closing argument address’ at Ellipse

With just one week until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday gave what her campaign called a “closing speech” from the Ellipse in Washington, DC, in which she vowed to “always put country above party and above self.”

As Donald Trump rallied supporters Tuesday night in Allentown, Pa., the setting of Harris’ speech carried its own message. It was at the same location that on January 6, 2021, then-President Donald Trump called on his supporters to “fight like hell” and march to the Capitol building to protest Congressional certification of his 2020 Electoral College loss to Joe Biden. A deadly riot ensued, with Trump watching the chaos from the White House delay proceedings by several hours before Biden was officially confirmed as the 46th US president.

With national and swing state polls showing Harris and Trump in a virtual dead heat, the vice president’s rally drew a massive crowd, estimated at 75,000 peoplethat filled the Ellipse and overflowed onto the National Mall. Here are the key takeaways from her speech.

Harris frames ‘the choice’

With sirens and car alarms blaring in the background in an apparent act of protest, Harris began by portraying the election as “a choice about whether we have a country rooted in freedom for every American or ruled by chaos and division.”

“Look, we know who Donald Trump is. He is the person who stood on this very spot almost 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, an election , which he knew he was losing,” Harris said.

“He has an enemy list of people he intends to prosecute,” she added. “He says one of his highest priorities is to free the violent extremists who attacked the law enforcement officers on January 6. Donald Trump intends to use the United States military against American citizens who simply disagree with him. People he calls ‘the enemy from within’. America, this is not a presidential candidate who thinks about how to make your life better. This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed by grievance and after unchecked power.”

She told her audience “that’s not who we are,” and then spoke for her own belief that the Latin phrase printed on American currency, “E pluribus unum,” which translates to “out of many, one,” is “a living truth about the heart of our nation.”

“The fact that someone doesn’t agree with us doesn’t make them the ‘enemy within,'” she said, adding, “As Americans, we rise and we fall.”

Harris then portrayed her candidacy as a way to “turn the page on the drama and the conflict, the fear and the division. It’s time for a new generation of leadership in America, and I’m ready to offer that leadership as the next president of the United States.”

Later in her speech, she promised “to be a president for all Americans. To always put country above party and above self.”

She is still introducing herself to voters

Harris acknowledged that “this has not been a typical campaign.” Her entry into the race came just three months ago, after concerns about Biden’s age prompted Democrats to try to convince him to drop out. In the sprint that has followed, Harris has sometimes struggled to introduce herself to voters, “even though I’ve had the honor of serving as your vice president for the past four years,” she said Tuesday, adding, “But I know many of you are still learning who I am.”

Harris then touted her work experience outside of Washington, mostly as California’s state attorney general, saying she has “always had an instinct to protect.”

“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. I will work every day to reach consensus and reach to a compromise to get things done,” she said in her pitch to voters.

“On day one, if Donald Trump was elected, Donald Trump would walk into that office with an enemies list,” Harris said. “When elected, I will go in with a to-do list.”

Abortion rights

Harris rarely misses an opportunity to proclaim her intent to work to restore women’s right to an abortion nationwide, and she reiterated that Tuesday in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturn. Roe v. Wade “One in three US women live in a state with a Trump abortion ban, many without exceptions for rape and incest.”

“Trump is not done. He would ban abortion nationwide,” Harris said, “restrict access to birth control and put IVF treatments at risk and force states to monitor women’s pregnancies.”

However, Trump has made no such promises.

Harris acknowledged that to restore abortion protections, she would need support from Congress.

“When Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom nationwide, as President of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law,” she said.

The ‘road to citizenship’ for some immigrants

Harris again promised that if elected, she would sign a border security bill — a bill that was torpedoed by Trump earlier this year — into law.

She said she would “give the Border Patrol the support they so desperately need,” Harris added, “At the same time, we must recognize that we are a nation of immigrants, and I will work with Congress to pass immigration reform , including an earned path to citizenship for hard-working immigrants like farmworkers and our Dreamers.”

Many Republicans oppose offering a path to citizenship. Trump has also promised the largest deportation of immigrants to the United States in the country’s history.