Petty tyrant, unstable, obsessed with revenge: Kamala Harris on Donald Trump in closing speech

Rarely has a political rally in downtown Washington DC seen the crowd it did on Tuesday night, with 75,000 people congregating at the Ellipse stretching all the way to the National Mall, Washington Monument and even Jefferson Memorial as Democratic nominee for president, Kamala Harris, made her closing argument to voters.

With the White House serving as the backdrop, the setting could not have been more presidential. The venue was the message in another stark way, for it was here that Donald Trump addressed his supporters on January 6, 2021, before they marched to the US Capitol to block the certification of the last election results.

And Harris wasted no time as she delivered her sharpest attack on Trump, in a speech that focused on his extremism, her concrete proposals to make lives for Americans better, a message of how her term would differ from Joe Biden’s, and a message of unity for Americans. This message of unity was however undercut by a subsequent, separate, Biden remark where he appeared to suggest, in response to a racist Trump supporter’s comments on Puerto Rico, that Trump’s supporters were “garbage”.

“We know who Donald Trump is. He is the person who stood on this great spot and sent an armed mob to the US Capitol to overturn the will of the people in a free and fair election, an election he knew he lost,” Harris reminded voters. Americans died and 140 law enforcement officials were injured. And Trump, Harris said, sat and watched. When the staff told him that the mob was looking to hang Mike Pence, for the vice president had defied Trump’s instructions to block the results, Harris claimed Trump told his staff, “So what”. “America, that’s who Donald Trump is. That’s who he is asking you to give him four more years.”

In the same vein, Harris spoke about how Trump had an “enemies list” if he got elected to office, comparing it to her “to do list”. And that list, she claimed, included freeing the January 6 insurrectionists and deploying the military against who Trump has repeatedly called the “enemy from within”. Harris framed Trump as “unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed by grievance, and out for unchecked power” who wanted to divide America and keep them afraid of each other. “That is who he is. But America, I am here tonight to say that is not who we are.”

Harris’s attack against Trump came in the context of a growing perception that the Republican nominee was gaining an edge in the election. But the Harris campaign believes that the election remains close and her surrogates express cautious optimism, based on four factors — her overwhelming lead among women voters, her appeal with moderate and undecided voters repelled by Trump’s extremism, a better get-out-the-voter operation on the ground, and more pathways to get to the 270 electoral college votes.

After attacking Trump, Harris spent time reaching out to those who may disagree with her but remain more concerned about Trump. She spoke about the American openness to debate, the fact that disagreement didn’t make someone an “enemy within”, humanised those on the other side of the political aisle, and projected herself as someone who made mistakes, who wasn’t perfect but who would always be willing to listen and build consensus. “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.”

Unfortunately for the Harris campaign, Biden’s remark, at a separate event, on the racism on display against Puerto Rico at Trump’s rally in New York took a different turn. Responding to a remark by a Trump supporter who had called the US territory garbage, Biden called Trump supporters “garbage”. He subsequently clarified that he had only meant that particular supporter; the Trump ecosystem, however, saw it in line with what they have projected as the contempt Democrats have for Trump’s supporters, something that only energises his base more.

But Biden’s faux pas showed one of the struggles Harris has confronted through the campaign - how to be supportive of her boss who endorsed her candidacy and in whose administration she serves, while distancing herself from his unpopularity.

On Tuesday, she finally had an answer. “I will bring my own experiences and ideas to the Oval Office. My presidency will be different, because the challenges we face are different. Our top priority as a nation four years ago was to end the pandemic and rescue the economy. Now our biggest challenge is to lower costs, costs that were rising even before the pandemic and that are still too high.”

She then offered a sharp policy contrast with Trump, arguing his proposed tariffs would be inflationary, his tax cuts would only be for the rich, his policies would take away social security and health insurance and Medicare. “We are not going back,” she said, reiterating her own proposals of supporting home owners, and small businesses, young parents, reducing healthcare costs. and attacking predatory pricing by big corporations.

Harris then focused on the biggest issue of her campaign that has resonated most widely. “One in three women in America lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban, many with no exceptions, even for rape and incest..that is immoral.. Trump’s not done. He would ban abortion nationwide, restrict access to birth control and put IVF treatments at risk and force states to monitor women’s pregnancies.”

On the issue that she is most vulnerable, immigration, Harris said that Trump had vetoed a bipartisan border security bill that she would bring back and pledged tough action. “When I am President, we will quickly remove those who arrive here unlawfully, prosecute the cartels, and give border patrol the support they so desperately need.” In an effort to project toughness, Harris promised she would make sure Americas had the “strongest and most lethal fighting force” in the world and would “strengthen, not surrender” American leadership, painting Trump as a leader world leaders saw as an “easy mark” who could be manipulated with flattery and favour.

Harris ended by reminding voters how, 250 years ago, America had fought against a “petty tyrant” and those who came before this generation preserved and expanded freedom through consistent struggles. “They did not struggle, sacrifice and lay down their lives only to see us cede our fundamental freedoms. They didn’t do that only to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant. We are not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators.”

It was this message, of Trump’s extremism in contrast with her moderation, of the danger he represented with the rational policymaking she represented, that served as Kamala Harris’s big sign off six days before the end of the American election.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.