The vice president sought to set herself apart from the nation’s political establishment.
WASHINGTON—A week before Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris made her campaign’s closing argument in the heart of the nation’s capital, telling tens of thousands of supporters from around the country, “I offer a different path, and I ask for your vote.”
Marking just more than three months since she entered the race after President Joe Biden dropped out, Harris sought to rally her supporters around key topics of her campaign, including abortion, housing, and tax incentives for caregivers.
“One week from today, you will have the chance to make a decision that directly impacts your life, the life of your family, and the future of this country we love,” she said. “And it will probably be the most important vote you ever cast.”
Harris’s speech was delivered two days after former President Donald Trump made his closing remarks in Manhattan at Madison Square Garden. In his speech, Trump focused on encouraging Americans to “dream big” again and a promise of fixing the economic, immigration, foreign policy, and other challenges the country faces.
Here are five key takeaways from Harris’s Ellipse speech.
Symbolic Importance of Location
Harris delivered her speech at the Ellipse, the same location Trump spoke from on Jan. 6, 2021, when the Capitol breach was beginning.
Capitalizing on the significance of the location, Harris sought to position herself as the more stable candidate. “It is a choice about whether we have a country rooted in freedom for every American or ruled by chaos and division,” she said.
She criticized Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, saying, “That’s who Donald Trump is, and that’s who is asking you to give him another four years in the Oval Office.”
Trump has frequently pointed to his remarks at the Ellipse, in which he told his supporters to “peacefully and patriotically” protest at the Capitol. He has since criticized the treatment of some Jan. 6 defendants, saying on different occasions he would pardon them.
