4 takeaways from Harris' “final speech” in the Ellipse

With just a week until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris gave what her campaign called a “valedictory speech” at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, pledging to “always put country before party and before self.” ”

As Donald Trump rallied supporters in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday evening, the venue for Harris' speech carried its own message. It was at the same spot on January 6, 2021, that then-President Donald Trump exhorted his supporters to “fight like hell” and march to the Capitol to protest Congress's certification of 2020 Joe Biden Electoral College had lost. A deadly riot broke out as Trump watched chaos unfold at the White House, delaying negotiations for several hours before Biden was officially confirmed as the 46th US president.

With national and swing-state polls showing Harris and Trump effectively dead, the vice president's rally drew a huge crowd, estimated at 75,000 people, that filled the Ellipse and spilled onto the National Mall. Here are the key takeaways from her speech.

Harris spells out “the choice”

With sirens and car alarms blaring in the background in an apparent act of protest, Harris initially described the election as “a decision about whether we have a country rooted in freedom for every American or ruled by chaos and division.”

“Look, we know who Donald Trump is. He is the person who stood on this very spot almost four years ago and sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol to overturn the will of the people in a free and fair election, an election that he knew he would had lost her,” Harris said.

“He has an enemies list of people he wants to prosecute,” she added. “He says one of his top priorities is the release of the violent extremists who attacked those police officers on January 6th. Donald Trump intends to use the US military against American citizens who simply disagree with him. He calls people “the enemy from within.” America, this is not a presidential candidate thinking about how to improve his life. This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed by resentment and seeking uncontrolled power.”

Harris told her audience “that's not us” and then expressed her own belief that the Latin phrase “E pluribus unum,” meaning “out of many, one,” printed on U.S. currency, was “a living truth about.” the heart of our nation.”

“The fact that someone disagrees with us does not make them an 'enemy within,'” she said, adding, “As Americans, we rise and fall together.”

Harris then portrayed her candidacy as a way to “leave behind the drama and the conflict, the fear and the division.” It is time for a new generation of leadership in America and I stand ready to offer that leadership as the next President of the United States of America.”

Later in her speech, she pledged to “be a president for all Americans. “Always putting country before party and before self.”

She is still introducing herself to voters

Harris acknowledged that “this was not a typical campaign.” Their entry into the race came just three months ago, after concerns about Biden's age led Democrats to try to convince him to drop out of the race. In the sprint that followed, Harris sometimes found it difficult to introduce herself to voters, “even though I've had the honor of serving as your vice president for the last four years,” she said Tuesday, adding, “But I know that.” Many of them “You guys are still getting to know me.”

Harris then touted her professional experience outside of Washington, most notably as attorney general of the state of California, and said she “always had a protective instinct.”

“I promise you that. I will always listen to you even if you don't vote for me. I will always tell you the truth, even when it is difficult to hear it. I will work every day to build consensus and find compromises to get things done,” she said in her pitch to voters.

“On day one if Donald Trump were elected, he would walk into his office with an enemies list,” Harris said. “If I’m elected, I’m going to come in with a to-do list.”

Abortion rights

Harris rarely misses an opportunity to announce her intention to work to restore women's right to an abortion nationwide, and she reiterated that on Tuesday following the Supreme Court's overturning of the decision Roe v. Wade “One in three women in the U.S. live in a state with a Trump abortion ban, many with no exceptions for rape and incest.”

“Trump isn’t done yet. “It would ban abortions nationwide,” Harris said, “restrict access to contraception, endanger IVF treatments and force states to monitor women’s pregnancies.”

Trump, however, has made no such promises.

Harris acknowledged that she would need congressional support to restore abortion protections.

“If Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom nationwide, I will proudly sign it into law as President of the United States,” she said.

“Path to Citizenship” for Some Immigrants

Harris promised again that if elected, she would sign a bipartisan border security bill — a law that was torpedoed by Trump earlier this year — into law.

Saying she would “give the Border Patrol the support they so desperately need,” Harris added: “At the same time, we must recognize that we are a nation of immigrants, and I will work with Congress to pass immigration reform.” , including deserved immigration reform. “Path to citizenship for hard-working immigrants like farmworkers and our dreamers.”

Many Republicans oppose offering a path to citizenship. Trump has also promised the largest deportation of immigrants to the US in the country's history.