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Harris-Trump showdown: The vice president gives closing argument with White House as backdrop
By Paul Steinhauser
Published October 29, 2024
WASHINGTON - Vice President Kamala Harris brought her presidential campaign to the nation's capital on Tuesday, as she delivered what was billed as her closing argument address to American voters.
With one week until Election Day, the vice president and Democratic presidential nominee, speaking to a massive crowd of tens of thousands of people near the White House, called on Americans to ‘turn the page’ on former President Trump, the Republican nominee.
"We have to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms. It is time to turn the page on the drama and the conflict. The fear and division," Harris said. "It is time for a new generation of leadership in America. And I am ready to offer that leadership as the next President of the United States of America."
And the vice president, painting a stark contrast with Trump, highlighted that "this election is more than just a choice between two parties and two different candidates. It is a choice about whether we have a country rooted in freedom for every American or ruled by chaos and division."
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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at the Ellipse near the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Harris delivered her address from the Ellipse, a large park located just south of the White House and north of the National Mall.
The setting was symbolic for two reasons.
First, the backdrop was the White House, where either Harris or Trump will soon succeed President Biden in the Oval Office.
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And second, Trump headlined a large rally of supporters at the Ellipse on Jan 6, 2021. Many of those who attended Trump's rally then marched to the U.S. Capital and joined other protesters in storming the building in an attempt to upend congressional certification of Biden's 2020 election victory over Trump.
"Look, we know who Donald Trump is. He is the person who stood at this very spot nearly 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," Harris said near the top of her 30-minute address.
President Trump speaks to supporters from The Ellipse near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C., ahead of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
And she argued that Trump "has spent a decade trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other."
"This is not a candidate for president who is thinking about how to make your life better," she charged. And Harris claimed the former president was a "petty tyrant" and emphasized that it's time for America to reject "the schemes of wannabe dictators" and instead to "start writing the next chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told."
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Trump, who has been indicted multiple times and made history as the first current or former president convicted in a criminal case, has regularly threatened during the 2024 campaign that if he returned to the White House, he would prosecute his political foes.
And both Biden and Harris - who replaced her boss atop the Democrats' 2024 ticket in July after Biden ended his re-election bid - have repeatedly warned voters that Trump poses a threat to democracy if he's re-elected.
Harris, repeating a line she's used with frequency on the campaign trail in recent days, encouraged the crowd to consider two very different futures for the country depending on the outcome of the presidential election.
"In less than 90 days, either Donald Trump or I will be in the Oval Office," Harris noted. "On Day One, if elected, Donald Trump would walk into that office with an enemies list. When elected, I will walk in with a to-do list."
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks durning a campaign rally in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
And Harris argued that "unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy,"
The Democratic presidential nominee claimed that the former president "wants to put them in jail. I’ll give them a seat at my table. And I pledge to be a president for all Americans. To always put country above party and above self."
Harris also used her address to spotlight key policy goals, including working to restore nationwide access to abortion, expanding Medicare coverage for home health care, and boosting the supply of housing in the country.
She also noted that "many of you are still getting to know who I am" after succeeding Biden just three months ago.
Harris once again portrayed herself as a "new generation" of leader.
"I have been honored to serve as Joe Biden's vice president, but I will bring my own experiences and ideas to the Oval Office. My presidency will be different because the challenges we face are different," she said.
The Harris campaign said that 75,000 people were in attendance to witness the speech, as the crowd spilled out from the Ellipse across Constitution Avenue and onto the National Mall by the Washington Monument.
Supporters cheer during a campaign rally with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Fox News witnessed multiple protesters being led away from the rally site during the address by the vice president.
Responding to the speech, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt charged that "Kamala Harris is lying, name-calling, and clinging to the past to avoid admitting the truth — the migrant crime crisis, sky-high inflation, and raging world wars are the result of her terrible policies."
Leavitt argued that the vice president "has spent the past four years working hand-in-hand with Joe Biden to destroy our country – but now, she is lying about her record because she has zero policy solutions to offer."
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And Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley charged that "Kamala Harris will do anything but ‘turn the page’ today in Washington, D.C.—instead, she will stir up division because her America Last agenda has nothing to offer the American people."
Former President Trump headlines a large rally at New York City's Madison Square Garden, on Oct. 27, 2024. (AP)
Trump gave his closing argument at a large rally Sunday at New York City's Madison Square Garden, where the former president's message was partially out shined by controversial comments from speakers during the pre-show that grabbed national headlines.
His message - "Kamala broke it. I'll fix it."
Harris' address came as the latest national polls indicate a margin-of-error race between her and Trump. It's the same story with the most recent surveys in the seven crucial battleground states whose razor-thin margins decided Biden's 2020 victory over Trump and will likely determine if Harris or Trump wins the 2024 election.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/harris-trump-showdown-vice-president-give-closing-argument-white-house-backdrop