The closing arguments from Harris and Trump show clear differences

NEW YORK (AP) — 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 above party and warned that Donald Trump was obsessed with revenge and his own personal interests.

In less than 48 hours early Madison Square GardenTrump called his Democratic opponent “a train wreck who destroyed everything in his path.” His allies on stage called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” and baselessly claimed that Harris, a former prosecutor and senator seeking to become the first woman elected president, began her career as a prostitute.

The dueling closing arguments, held two nights and 200 miles apart, laid bare the choice facing U.S. voters on November 5 as they 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 wants to fix the economy and the border, and as a political outsider who wants to defy convention despite the risks.

Harris, who has served as vice president for the past 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 huge audience at the same venue where Trump spoke to thousands of his supporters on January 6, 2021, before they stormed the US Capitol in one of the darkest days in modern history.

But Harris' remarks not only reminded voters of the threat Trump poses to US democracy, but also sought to highlight her opponent's track record of putting his personal interests above those of the nation.

“Donald Trump has spent a decade dividing the American people and making them fear each other. That's him. But America, I'm here tonight to say: This is not who we are,” Harris said. “I promise to be a president for all Americans – to always put country before party and before self.”

Senior adviser Jen O'Malley Dillon noted that Harris' closing argument is aimed at reaching the narrow segment of undecided voters; including many moderate Republicans.

“We know there are still many voters who are still thinking about who to support — or whether to vote at all,” O'Malley Dillon said. “And this race is extremely close. We are talking about a race for error rate. We know it will be closed this final week.”

Trump's team is more focused on strengthening his partisan base and reaching rare voters across the political spectrum who are frustrated with the direction of the country and looking for change.

Still, Trump has 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. When Trump left office, the country was still in the throes of the pandemic, but polls suggest that most voters are now dissatisfied with the country's development.

Trump has vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history and impose sweeping tariffs to raise revenue and boost American manufacturing.

Despite criticism from even some Republicans, Trump on Tuesday called his event at Madison Square Garden “a lovefest” and did not address comments from pro-Trump comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash.” Hinchcliffe also made demeaning jokes about blacks, other Latinos, Palestinians and Jews in his routine before Trump took the stage.

“No one has ever had love like this,” Trump said of Sunday’s hourlong event attended by his family members and top surrogates and supporters, including billionaire Elon Musk and television psychologist “Dr. Phil” McGraw and former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson. “It was truly love for our country.”

The Republican former president also offered a bleak assessment of Harris' leadership on Tuesday. He said it had “obliterated” the country’s borders, “decimated the middle class,” brought “bloodshed and misery” to major cities and “triggered war and chaos around the world.”

“No one who has caused so much destruction and death at home and abroad should ever be allowed to be president of the United States,” Trump told dozens of supporters gathered at his Florida estate.

Trump senior adviser Jason Miller said Trump has made clear his plans to repair the economy, secure the southern border and “improve people's daily lives.”

“Kamala Harris did none of this,” he said. “It's a message of desperation, personal attacks and nothing from Harris or her campaign about what they will actually do to help Americans. So it’s a huge contrast.”

Harris has largely moved away from the “joyful” campaign style that characterized her entry into the presidential race this summer. She promised unity on Tuesday evening, but also portrayed Trump as someone who was driven more by revenge and resentment than by commitment to the people.

“This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed by resentment and seeking uncontrolled power,” Harris said. “This is not a presidential candidate thinking about how to improve his life.”

She spoke directly to Republican voters at times and promised, if elected, that she would listen to those who did not vote for her. Harris previously said she would add a Republican to her Cabinet.

“Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe that people who disagree with me are the enemy,” she said. “He wants to put her in prison. I give them a seat at the table.”

Going into the speech, the Democrat's campaign was cognizant of criticism from her party's far-left base that she had focused too much on courting moderate Republican voters. They called on Harris to focus more on the priorities of the working class than on the threat Trump poses to US democracy.

Ultimately, the vice president's speech was designed to tie both topics together. She warned that Trump was endangering democratic norms and pledged to tackle high food prices and help first-time home buyers pay a down payment.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a key Harris ally, said voters can “walk and chew gum at the same time — which means they can hear an argument about freedom and something that affects their wallets.” And I think she is fully capable of pursuing both cases at the same time.”

Sisters Michelle Detwiler and Renee Newell drove from Virginia to attend Harris' talks at the Ellipse Temple.

“We both have daughters and we’re both there for them,” Newell said. Detwiler said the location of the event was a “great counterpoint to the images from January 6th. DC is a great city for peaceful public gatherings.”

“We are so happy to be here and 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.