US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Tuesday delivered a speech on the White House Ellipse in Washington, D.C., the site at which former President Donald Trump spoke before the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol.
In her remarks, viewed as a “closing argument” one week before Election Day, Harris invoked many of the same warnings she had made on the campaign trail about Trump.
She encouraged the crowd and voters to move on from the Trump political era, calling the Republican nominee a “petty tyrant.”
“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. It is time for a new generation in America, and I am ready to offer that leadership as the next president of the United States of America,” Harris said.
Commenting on the Capitol riot, the Vice President said, “Americans died as a result of that attack; 140 law enforcement officers were injured. And while Donald Trump sat in the White House watching, as the violence unfolded on television, he was told by staff that the mob wanted to kill his own vice president. Donald Trump responded with two words: ‘So what?’. That’s who Donald Trump is.”
She also criticized Trump’s remarks about “the enemy within” and said, “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 the table.”
The Vice President called her political rival “unstable,” “obsessed with revenge,” “consumed with grievance” and “out for unchecked power.”
Harris’ speech comes as polls in recent weeks have shown a shift in Trump’s favor.
A poll published last week in the Washington Post predicted a close race in the swing states.
On average, the gap between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris stands at a single percentage point, with Harris winning 49 percent to Trump's 48 percent.
An election forecast published a day earlier found that Trump has, for the first time this election cycle, surpassed Harris.
The forecast gave Trump a 52 percent chance of winning the 2024 presidential race, while Harris held a 42 percent chance.