NEW YORK – 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 made a baseless claim that Harris, a former prosecutor and senator who is trying to become the first woman to be elected president, had begun her career as a prostitute.
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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.
“We know that there are still a lot of voters out there that are still trying to decide who to support — or whether to vote at all,” O'Malley Dillon said. “And this race is extremely close. We talk about it as a margin of error race. We know it is going to be closed out in this final week.”
Trump's team is more focused on energizing his partisan base and reaching infrequent voters across the political spectrum who are frustrated by the direction of the country and looking for change.
Still, Trump framed his comments in recent days with a simple question that cuts across political lines, asking voters whether they are better off now than they were four years ago at the end of his first term. While the nation was still in the throes of the pandemic when Trump left office, polls indicate that most voters are unhappy with the direction of the country today.
Trump has vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in U.S. history and impose broad tariffs to generate revenue and boost American manufacturing.
Ever defiant facing criticism from even some Republicans, Trump on Tuesday called his Madison Square Garden event “a lovefest” and did not address the comments of pro-Trump comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” Hinchcliffe also made demeaning jokes about Black people, other Latinos, Palestinians and Jews in his routine before Trump took the stage.
“Nobody’s ever had love like that,” Trump said of the hours-long Sunday event that featured his family members and high-level surrogates and supporters including billionaire Elon Musk, TV psychologist “Dr. Phil” McGraw and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. “It was really love for our country.”
The Republican former president on Tuesday also offered a dark assessment of Harris' leadership. He said that she “obliterated” the nation's borders, “decimated the middle class,” brought “bloodshed and squalor” to major cities and “unleashed war and chaos all over the world.”
“No person who has caused so much destruction and death at home and abroad should ever be allowed to be the president of the United States,” Trump told dozens of supporters who gathered at his Florida estate.
Trump senior adviser Jason Miller said Trump has made clear his plans to fix the economy, secure the southern border and “improve people’s daily lives.”
“Kamala Harris hasn’t done any of that,” he said. “It’s a message of despair, personal attacks and nothing from Harris or her campaign about what they’re actually going to do to help Americans. So it’s a massive contrast.”
Harris has largely moved on from the “joyful” campaigning style that defined her entrance into the presidential contest this summer. She pledged unity on Tuesday night, but she also cast Trump as someone driven more by revenge and grievance than a commitment to the people.
“This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance and out for unchecked power,” Harris said. “This is not a candidate for president who is thinking about how to make your life better.”
She spoke directly to Republican voters at times and promised to listen to those who didn't vote for her if elected. Harris previously said she would include a Republican in her Cabinet.
“Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy," she said. “He wants to put them in jail. I’ll give them a seat at the table.”
Heading into the speech, the Democrat's campaign was aware of criticism from her party's far-left base that she has been too focused on courting moderate Republican voters. They urged Harris to focus more on working-class priorities than the threat Trump poses to U.S. democracy.
Ultimately, the vice president's speech was designed to tie both issues together. She warned of Trump threatening democratic norms and vowed to take action against high grocery prices and help first-time home buyers with making a down payment.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a top Harris ally, said voters can “walk and chew gum at the same time — meaning they can hear an argument about freedom and about something that affects their pocketbook. And I think she is certainly capable to prosecute both cases at the same time.”
Sisters Michelle Detwiler and Renee Newell drove from Virginia to attend Harris' remarks at the Ellipse.
“We both have daughters and we’re both here for them,” Newell said. Detwiler said the location of the event is a “great counterpoint to the imagery of Jan. 6. D.C. is a great city for peaceful public gatherings.
“We’re so glad to be here and to experience the joy,” she said.
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Associated Press writers Zeke Miller and Fatima Hussein in Washington and Jill Colvin in New York contributed.