In the shadow of the White House, Kamala Harris is vowing to put country over party
In the shadow of the White House, seven days before the final votes of the 2024 election are cast, Kamala Harris vowed to put country over party and warned that Donald Trump is obsessed with revenge and his own personal interests.
Less than 48 hours earlier inside Madison Square Garden, Trump called his Democratic opponent “a trainwreck who has destroyed everything in her path.” His allies on stage labeled Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” and said Harris, who would be the first woman to be president, had begun her career as a prostitute.
Two nights and 200 miles apart, the dueling closing arguments outlined in stark terms the choice U.S. voters face on Nov. 5 when they will weigh two very different visions of leadership and America’s future.
Trump’s raucous rally, marked by crude and racist insults, highlighted the uglier elements of his coalition. But other parts of it underscored the former businessman’s appeal as someone who vows to fix the economy and the border, and as a political outsider eager to defy any and all conventions despite the risks.
Harris, the vice president for the last four years, chose a more formal setting — the grassy Ellipse near the White House — to underscore the seriousness of this moment in American history and the threat Trump poses to democracy. She faced a massive audience in the same place where Trump addressed thousands of his loyalists on Jan. 6, 2021, before they stormed the U.S. Capitol in one of the darkest days of modern history.
But more than simply reminding voters of the danger that Trump poses to U.S. democracy, Harris’ remarks were designed to highlight her opponent’s record of prioritizing his personal interests instead of the nation’s.
“Donald Trump has spent a decade trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other. That’s who he is. But America, I am here tonight to say: That’s not who we are”, Harris said. “I pledge to be a president for all Americans — to always put country above party and above self.”
Senior adviser Jen O’Malley Dillon noted that Harris’ closing argument is designed to reach the narrow slice of undecided voters; many moderate Republicans are among them.
