PHILADELPHIA – Vice President Kamala Harris plans to lay out her campaign's closing argument by returning to the site near the White House where Donald Trump helped incite a mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 — hoping it will crystalize for voters the fight between defending democracy and sowing political chaos.
Her campaign says Harris will give a speech at the Ellipse on Tuesday — one week before Election Day — and will urge the nation to “turn the page” toward a new era and away from Trump.
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The site is symbolic, since it's where Trump delivered a speech on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress was convening to certify Joe Biden's victory in the election that past November. In it, Trump lied repeatedly about widespread voter fraud that had not occurred and urged supporters to fight. Hundreds then stormed the Capitol in a deadly riot.
Word of the speech came from a senior Harris campaign official who insisted on anonymity to discuss an address that is still in development. The Harris campaign is betting that her speaking at the Ellipse can provide an opportunity for the vice president to stress that the country no longer wants to be defined by a political combativeness that Trump seems to relish.
Trump has promised to pardon those jailed for their role in the Capitol attack should he reclaim the presidency during the election Nov. 5.
Closing arguments are important opportunities for candidates to sum up their campaigns and make a concise case for why voters should back them. Trump’s campaign suggested he’d begin framing his closing argument while addressing a rally last weekend in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Instead, the former president spent more than 10 minutes talking about the genitals of the late, legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, who was born in Latrobe.
Her team announced the coming Ellipse addressed before Harris attended a CNN town hall in suburban Philadelphia on Wednesday night, where she took questions from an audience of undecided voters as part of what was once envisioned as a debate with Trump. Harris had said she would participate in a CNN debate but the two sides never worked out a formal agreement. CNN said it also invited Trump to a town hall. but that it didn’t happen.
Harris told the audience that Jan. 6 saw a “president of the United States defying the will of the people in a free and fair election and unleashing a violent mob who attacked the United States Capitol.”
The first audience question was from a self-described “anti-Trump Republican” who was concerned about the Jan. 6 attack.
“I believe the American people deserve better, and they deserve a president who is focused on solutions, not sitting in the Oval Office plotting every day,” Harris said.
When it comes to Jan. 6, about 4 in 10 likely voters in a CNN poll from September said the economy was their most important issue when deciding how to vote, and about 2 in 10 said protecting democracy was. That compared to about 1 in 10 who named either immigration or abortion and reproductive rights.
Protecting democracy also seems to be more important to Democrats and Harris supporters. Roughly 4 in 10 voters who back Harris call it their top issue, compared to about 2 in 10 who say that about the economy. For Republicans and Trump supporters, about 6 in 10 name the economy as their top voting issue, followed by immigration. Only 5% of Trump supporters said protecting democracy was their top issue.
During the town hall, Harris said Trump is “increasingly unstable and unfit to serve.” Asked directly if she thought her opponent was a fascist, Harris responded, "Yes, I do."
A short time later, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt responded, “Kamala will say anything to distract from her open border invasion and record high inflation."
During the event, Harris was asked how her presidency would be different from Biden’s given that she’s been a part of his administration for nearly four years — a question she's answered in recent weeks without naming major contrasts. This time, Harris seemed better prepared to talk about how things would be different, saying, “My administration will not be a continuation of the Biden administration” and saying she represented a “new generation of leadership on a number of issues.”
“I’m pointing out things that haven’t been done that need to be done,” the vice president said of Biden’s policies, also noting, “I’m not going to shy away from saying, ‘Hey, these are still problems that we need to fix.’” She pointed specifically to her promises to increase federal grants for small businesses and to expand government funding for home health care to people caring for their elderly parents and children simultaneously.
One audience member pressed Harris on key issues where she’s flip-flopped. That includes hydraulic fracturing, which she suggested that she’d support banning while running in the 2020 Democratic primary but now says should be allowed to continue. Harris said Wednesday that the U.S. can invest in a greener energy economy without halting fracking, which is key to the economy of parts of Pennsylvania.
She added that she sees many key policies differently now: “Frankly I now have the experience and perspective of having been vice president.”
Asked about the greatest weakness she’d bring to the White House, Harris offered, “I’m kind of a nerd sometimes, I confess” while admitting to making “parental mistakes” with her two stepchildren.
The vice president also mentioned praying every day, saying, “I was raised to believe in a loving God, to believe faith is a verb.”
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Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Linley Sanders contributed to this report from Washington.