Vice President Kamala Harris will argue that former President Donald Trump is too focused on retribution to help everyday Americans when she delivers her closing argument at a rally on the Ellipse in Washington Tuesday night.
With one week until Election Day, Ms. Harris will speak with the White House in the background. The campaign says the site was selected to underscore the chaos that surrounds Mr. Trump as well as to make sure voters connect the image of Ms. Harris and 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Trump held a rally on the Ellipse where he told his supporters to “fight like hell … to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard” before some of his supporters stormed the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying what he called a rigged election.
Harris Campaign Chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon said the Ellipse site is a reminder of “how much a president can do for good and bad to shape the country and impact people’s lives.”
“It’s a stark visualization of probably the most infamous example of Donald Trump and how he’s used his power for bad, really focusing on himself and spreading division and chaos and inciting a mob to try to maintain his own power,” Ms. O’Malley Dillon told reporters on a conference call.
Ms. Harris will use that imagery to strike a balance between arguing that she will work to lower costs, create job opportunities and improve the lives of Americans while Mr. Trump will sit in the Oval Office stewing over his “enemies list” if he prevails next week. It’s a line she has been using more frequently in her stump speeches, though it’s unclear if it’s swaying independents.
“This speech is really designed to reach those undecided voters,” Ms. O’Malley Dillon said. “We know a lot of those undecided voters. They’re exhausted. They’re certainly frustrated by the state of the partisanship and divided political system that really was defined under Donald Trump, his chaos and his lack of focus on real solutions about the things the American people are concerned about.”
Still, it’s not covering new ground for Ms. Harris. She has already argued that Mr. Trump’s vow to upend political norms will take his focus away from offering solutions to the nation’s politics.
She will contrast her warnings about Mr. Trump with her economic plan and promise to protect abortion rights. Campaign officials declined to say how much of the speech will zero in on Mr. Trump versus promoting her economic proposals.
Some Democrats have warned Ms. Harris to move away from ripping the GOP nominee.
This week, a pro-Harris super PAC, Future Forward, told the campaign that attacking Mr. Trump as a fascist or questioning his character is a mistake.
In an email circulated to Democrats, the PAC argued that Ms. Harris focusing on proposals as president would be a more effective message with just days left to go in the race, according to a report in The New York Times.
Ahead of her speech, the Harris campaign amended its permit application to accommodate 40,000 people at the site from the original estimate of 20,000. The campaign declined to comment on attendance beyond saying it will be one of her “larger speeches.”
The Ellipse speech will be the centerpiece of a pre-Election Day blitz for Ms. Harris. Ahead of her remarks, she will do five interviews, including four with TV outlets in Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
After the speech, she’ll travel to Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Wisconsin on Wednesday followed by events in Reno, Las Vegas and Phoenix on Thursday before hitting Wisconsin on Friday. Ms. Harris will spend Saturday in Georgia and North Carolina.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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