“We are not a vessel for the plans of would-be dictators”

Kamala Harris drew a sharp contrast with Donald Trump as she delivered her closing statement against the backdrop of the White House, telling a huge crowd at the Ellipse Temple that the election was a choice between a hopeful future and chaos and division.

“This United States of America is not a vessel for the plans of would-be dictators,” Harris said. “The United States of America is the greatest idea ever conceived by humanity, a nation big enough to realize all our dreams, strong enough to withstand any breach or rift between us, and fearless enough to imagine a future full of possibilities.”

Towards the end of the speech, which lasted just over 30 minutes, it was a story of conflicting bottom thirds that reflected the divisions in the nation in this close election. “Harris makes the closing pitch for the 2024 election,” CNN said, while Fox announced, “Kamala closes on fear and fascism.” MSNBC said, “Kamala Harris makes the final pitch to voters.”

The speech itself repeated many of the themes and policy proposals that Harris had made on the campaign trail, but the address was heavily promoted, garnered the attention of major cable news networks, and ended just as Game 4 of the World Series was about to begin.

Harris acknowledged that “many of you are still trying to figure out who I am,” peppering her speech with personal anecdotes about her mother while arguing that her presidency would be different from Joe Biden’s “because of the challenges we face will be different.”

She seemed to hear the warnings of experts who said she needed to focus more on her and her policy proposals in the final days of the election – not just on Trump.

However, the staging of the speech was heavily symbolic, as it began by noting that the Ellipse was the location where Trump held a rally on January 6, 2021, before “deploying an armed mob to do the will of the people in free movement.” “Fair election.” As she spoke about that day, police sirens could be heard in the background — something that is not uncommon in the area around the White House.

The event was broadcast by Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, while the BBC covered part of it before doing a split-screen of Trump's rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania. With the exception of their streaming channels, the broadcasters remained with their regular programming. Harris' campaign said 75,000 people had gathered – with an overflow outside the security perimeter, near the Washington Monument. These figures have not been confirmed by law enforcement.

During her speech, Harris tried to reach out to Republicans, which could be crucial in a race that has been called a “margin of error.” She seized on Trump's own rhetoric, including his use of the term “enemy within” to talk about political rivals, and cast her presidency as one that would unify.

“The fact that someone disagrees with us does not make them an enemy within,” Harris said. “You are fellow Americans, and as Americans we rise and fall together.”

She also repeated the theme throughout her campaign that Trump was seeking a return to the Oval Office out of his own self-interest, not the interests of voters. She said Trump would enter the Oval Office on day one “with a list of enemies.” If elected, I will come in with a to-do list of priorities of what I can do for the American people.”

“I promise to look for common ground and common-sense solutions to make your life better. I'm not interested in scoring political points. I want to make progress,” Harris said. “…And to people who disagree with me – unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe that people who disagree with me are the enemy. He wants to put her in prison. I will give them a seat at the table.”

Trump's team has sought to characterize Harris' rhetoric as divisive, claiming she referred to the former president's supporters as Nazis. That appeared to be a reference to Harris's quotation of comments from Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly, who told the New York Times last week that the former president met the definition of a fascist.

“Kamala Harris lies, insults and clings to the past to avoid admitting the truth – the migrant crime crisis, soaring inflation and raging world wars are the result of her terrible policies,” Trump's national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.