Harris makes closing case in huge rally at DC's Ellipse

What happened

Vice President Kamala Harris made the closing argument of her presidential campaign Tuesday night, speaking to a large crowd outside the White House that stretched back to the Washington Monument. Her campaign estimated that more than 75,000 people attended. Speaking at the Ellipse — the spot where Donald Trump urged his supporters to "fight like hell" and march to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — Harris asked voters to "turn the page" on Trump's "division" and "chaos" and choose a "new generation of leadership" offering a "different path" that benefits all Americans.

Who said what

"In less than 90 days, either Donald Trump or I will be in the Oval Office," Harris said. "On Day 1, if elected, Donald Trump would walk into that office with an enemies list. When elected, I will walk in with a to-do list full of priorities on what I will get done for the American people." She pledged to "always put country above party and above self," to "fight for the people" and to listen to experts and stakeholders but also critics, because unlike 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 my table."

Harris combined a "blistering critique of Trump" — a man "unstable, obsessed with revenge and consumed with grievance" who "is not thinking about making your life better" — with "her policy vision for the country," The Wall Street Journal said. She "measured her policy plans against Trump's," CNN said, saying she "would expand Medicare to cover home health care, where Trump would try to cut the program," for example, and "back women's reproductive rights, where Trump would further restrict them."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"You might not know it reading the news or following X," but Harris and Trump both "firmed up" their closing messages weeks ago, David Weigel said at Semafor, and "they are hammering swing state voters with simple, direct arguments," mostly on the economy, "even as the media cycle spins out of control" with flashier outrage bait from their rallies.

What next?

The Ellipse speech "was framed as a campaign finale," The Associated Press said, but "it's far from Harris' last campaign event. She'll be hitting all the key battleground states this week as she makes her last pitch to voters," especially the tiny sliver of persuadable undecideds.