Harris tries to draw a contrast with Trump, arguing at the DC rally: “It doesn’t have to be this way.”

CNN
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Kamala Harris warned Americans Tuesday night that Donald Trump would open a floodgate of revenge against his political rivals, including ordinary Americans, while promising that she would work for the American people.

“In less than 90 days, either Donald Trump or I will be in the Oval Office,” Harris said from the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., turning to face the White House behind her as she delivered what his campaign had announced would be “closing statements.” “-Speech.

“If Donald Trump were elected on Day 1, he would walk into his office with an enemies list. If elected, I will come in with a to-do list full of priorities about what I will do for the American people.”

Standing where Trump told his supporters to “fight like hell” on January 6, 2021, shortly before the ransacking of the US Capitol, Harris described the election as an existential choice between the freedoms she promised to protect. and the “chaos and division” she caused She said she would follow Trump back to the White House.

“Donald Trump intends to use the U.S. military against American citizens who simply disagree with him. He calls people “the enemy from within.” “This is not a presidential candidate thinking about how to improve his life,” Harris said. “This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed by resentment and seeking uncontrolled power.”

While speaking from the Ellipse for about half an hour, Harris compared her policy plans to Trump's and presented herself as a foil to the former president – a president who would expand Medicare to home health care, where Trump would seek to close the program shorten; a president who would support women's reproductive rights while Trump would further restrict them; a president who values ​​compromise while Trump delights in conflict.

“Our democracy does not require us to agree on everything. This is not the American way,” Harris said. “We like a good debate. And the fact that someone has a different opinion than us does not make them an “enemy within.” They are family, neighbors, classmates, colleagues.”

“It can be easy to forget a simple truth,” she added. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”

A hundred days after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Harris continued to distance him in her comments. Harris said it was an “honor” to be Biden’s vice president. But it would not define her administration or her goals in office.

“My presidency will be different because the challenges we face are different,” Harris said. “Four years ago, our top priority as a nation was to end the pandemic and save the economy. Now our biggest challenge is to reduce costs, which were already rising before the pandemic and are still too high.”

Shortly after she finished her remarks, Biden was forced to clean up comments he made during an election call earlier in the evening, sparking an immediate backlash from many who interpreted them as referring to Trump supporters as “garbage.”

Harris tried Tuesday to connect her personal story to the way she has led the country – a reflection of the fact that many Americans still say they want to know more about the vice president, who has led a campaign in an incredible campaign short time frame and they know plans.

And while her speech offered no further policy details, she argued again that her background — a child of immigrants who became a prosecutor — prepared her to make good on her promises.

“For as long as I can remember, I have always had a protective instinct. There's something about people being treated unfairly or overlooked that just gets to me,” Harris said. “It's what my mother taught me. The urge to hold accountable those who use their wealth or power to take advantage of other people.”