Harris Delivers ‘Closing Argument’ Before a Crowd of 70,000+

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris delivered the closing argument of her campaign Tuesday night, drawing an enthusiastic crowd of an estimated 70,000+ people to the same spot where former President Donald Trump held his Jan. 6, 2021, rally before his supporters laid siege to the U.S. Capitol.

The crowd was by far the largest Harris has addressed during her three-month-long presidential campaign, with 40,000 people passing through security to get onto the Ellipse on the south side of the White House, and at least another 30,000 gathering on the rise at the base of the Washington Monument and spilling onto Constitution Avenue.

Harris used the event to repeatedly lambast Trump, describing her Republican rival as “consumed with grievance,” “out for unchecked power” and “wholly unqualified” to have a second term in the White House.

At the same time, in a nod to the many voters still undecided watching the televised event from key battleground states, the vice president also spoke at length about the experiences that shaped who she is, the reasons she wants to be president and some of the specific policies she’ll pursue if the American people give her the job.

“In less than 90 days, either Donald Trump or I will be in the Oval Office,” she said, gesturing to the White House that was aglow behind her. 

“On Day 1, if elected, Donald Trump would walk into that office with an enemies list. When elected, I will walk in with a to-do list,” she said.

“I will fight to restore what Donald Trump and his hand-selected Supreme Court justices took away from the women of America,” Harris said of abortion rights as the crowd roared its approval.

Returning to the theme of Trump’s grievances, she reminded her large audience of the former president’s frequent references to “the other” and “the enemy within.”

If elected president, she said, she will listen to the counsel on all sides, even, she added, “people who disagree with me.”

“I pledge to listen to experts,” Harris said. “To those who will be impacted by the decisions I make. And to people who disagree with me.”

“Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy. He wants to put them in jail. I’ll give them a seat at my table,” Harris added.

The vice president’s rally was a marked contrast to a gathering of supporters hosted by Trump at New York City’s Madison Square Garden this past weekend.

At that event, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe referred to Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage,” and he and other speakers reportedly disparaged Blacks, women, and others.

The Trump campaign has since tried to distance itself from Hinchcliffe’s remarks.

By contrast, the Harris rally was marked by expressions of joy — and lots and lots of dancing to the sounds of Atlanta-based Pretty Tammi the DJ — almost from the moment spectators were allowed on the ellipse grounds starting in the mid-afternoon.

Harris herself was all smiles when she finally took the stage at about 7:30 p.m.

During her remarks, which lasted around 30 minutes, Harris acknowledged that hers has “not been a typical campaign.”

“Even though I’ve had the honor of serving as your vice president for the last four years, many of you are still getting to know who I am,” she said.

“I am someone who has spent most of my career outside of Washington, D.C. So I know that not all the good ideas come from here,” Harris continued. “I am not afraid of tough fights against bad actors and powerful interests, because for decades as a prosecutor and a top law enforcement officer of our biggest state, I won fights against big banks that ripped off homeowners, against for profit colleges that scammed veterans and students, against predators who abused women and children and cartels that trafficked in guns, drugs and human beings. 

“And I did this work because for as long as I can remember, I have always had an instinct to protect,” she said. “There’s something about people being treated unfairly or overlooked that, frankly, just gets to me. I don’t like it. 

“It’s what my mother instilled in me, a drive to hold accountable those who use their wealth or power to take advantage of other people, the drive to protect hard working Americans who aren’t always seen or heard and deserve a voice. And I will tell you, that is the kind of president I will be,” she said.

“Look, I’ll be honest with you, I’m not perfect. I make mistakes,” Harris added. “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 is difficult to hear. I will work every day to build consensus and reach compromise to get things done,

“And if you give me the chance to fight on your behalf, there is nothing in the world that will stand in my way,” she said.

In addition to restoring abortion rights for women across America, Harris laid out an agenda that included fighting congressional efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, expanding child tax credits and having Medicare cover in-home care for seniors.

By comparison, she said, Trump’s agenda is focused primarily on enacting new tax cuts that would benefit only the wealthiest of Americans.

On immigration, an issue Trump is banking on to win back the White House, Harris said it’s time for politicians to stop treating it as a vehicle “to scare up votes.”

Instead, she said, the next president and Congress should “treat it as a serious challenge,” and one “that we must finally come together to solve.”

“I will work with Democrats and Republicans to sign into law the border security bill that Donald Trump killed,” Harris said. 

She went on to vow that if elected, her administration “will quickly remove those who arrive here unlawfully, prosecute the cartels, and give border patrol the support they so desperately need.”

At the same time, she added, “We must acknowledge 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 farm workers and our dreamers.”

Seeking to underscore the historic choice facing the nation, Harris noted that “America was born when we wrested freedom from a petty tyrant.

“Across the generations, Americans have preserved that freedom, expanded it, and in so doing, proved to the world that a government of by and for the people is strong and can endure,” she continued.

“And those who came before us, the patriots at Normandy and Selma, Seneca Falls and Stonewall, on farmland and factory floors. They did not struggle, sacrifice and lay down their lives only to see us cede our fundamental freedoms.

“They didn’t do that only to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant,” she said, taking another jab at Trump.

“These United States of America, we are not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators,” Harris said near the conclusion of her remarks.

“The United States of America is the greatest idea humanity ever devised, a nation big enough to encompass all our dreams, strong enough to withstand any fracture or fissure between us, and fearless enough to imagine a future of possibilities,”  she said.

“So America, let us reach for that future. Let us fight for this beautiful country we love, and in seven days, we have the power, each of you has the power to turn the page and start writing the next chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told,” Harris said.

The biggest speech of her life behind her, Harris is set to travel to all seven battleground states to speak with voters one last time in the scant days left before Election Day.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue

Photos by Dan McCue.