Democrat Kamala Harris warned tens of thousands of people gathered in Washington at her biggest rally that her Republican opponent Donald Trump was seeking unchecked power as their tightening race for the presidency entered its final week.
By Jeff Mason, Arlene Eiras and Steve Holland
WASHINGTON – Democrat Kamala Harris warned tens of thousands of people gathered in Washington at her biggest rally that her Republican opponent Donald Trump was seeking unchecked power as their tightening race for the presidency entered its final week.
Harris spoke on Tuesday evening to an outdoor rally estimated by her campaign to number more than 75,000 people at the spot near the White House where on January 6, 2021, Trump addressed his supporters before they attacked the US Capitol.
“We know who Donald Trump is,” Harris said. She said the then-president sent an “armed mob” to the US Capitol to try to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election.
“This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance and out for unchecked power,” Harris said during what her campaign called her closing argument before a tightly contested November 5 election.
More than 53 million Americans have already voted in the election, according to Election Hub at the University of Florida, in a battle that will decide who runs the world’s richest and most powerful country for four years.
Harris was flanked by American flags on stage and surrounded by blue and white banners that said “FREEDOM” with a well-lit White House behind her.
The crowd included older people and college students, people from overseas, from New York and from nearby Virginia. Many women came in groups with other female friends.
“It’s important that we do not go back to the horrible past policies under President Trump,” said Saul Schwartz, a former federal worker from Alexandria, Virginia.
“She is everything that I always wanted in a president. She is joyous. She is real, she is powerful. And she is a woman,” said Danielle Hoffmann from Staten Island, New York. “It’s time for you guys… to take a backseat because we’re driving right now,” she said, addressing men in general. Her husband, she noted, is a Trump supporter.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Tuesday showed that Harris’ lead had eroded to just 44% to 43% among registered voters.
Harris has led Trump in every Reuters/Ipsos poll since she entered the race in July, but her advantage has steadily shrunk since late September.
Trump and his allies have sought to play down the violence of Jan 6.
Thousands of his supporters stormed the Capitol, sending lawmakers fleeing for their lives after Trump’s address on the Ellipse, where as president in 2021 he told the crowd to “fight like hell” to prevent Congress from ratifying his loss.
Four people died in the ensuing riot at the Capitol, and one police officer who defended the Capitol died the following day. Trump has said that if re-elected, he would pardon the more than 1,500 participants who have been charged with crimes.
“We have to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms,” Harris told the Washington crowd on Tuesday and urged Americans to put divisions behind them.
TRUMP SAYS NEW YORK RALLY ‘AN ABSOLUTE LOVEFEST’
In Florida earlier in the day, Trump sought to move on from the racist and other vulgar remarks made by allies at his New York rally on Sunday.
Trump did not comment on the remarks made by speakers at the Sunday event where comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” and disparaged black Americans, Jewish people, Palestinians and Latinos.
Trump’s campaign had said previously that the comments about Puerto Rico did not reflect the former president’s views, but Trump on Tuesday called the New York event “an absolute lovefest” and said he was honoured to be involved.
President Joe Biden drew ire from Trump’s campaign for remarks he made about the Sunday rally during a fund-raising call on Tuesday.
According to a transcript posted by a White House spokesperson on X, Biden said: “the only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s – his – his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it’s un-American.”
Several news organizations cited the same quote but without the apostrophe.
Biden later posted on X, the social media site: “Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage — which is the only word I can think of to describe it. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”
COURTING HISPANIC VOTERS
As Harris spoke in Washington, Trump visited a heavily Hispanic city in Pennsylvania, two days after Hinchcliffe’s comments about Puerto Rico drew outrage at the New York rally.
The US Census Bureau says Puerto Ricans are the largest Hispanic group in Pennsylvania, a state that holds the highest number of Electoral College votes of the seven battleground states expected to decide the election.
“I’d like to begin with a very, very simple question: Are you better off now than you were four years ago? I’m here today with a message of hope for all Americans,” Trump said.
Harris, who would be the first female president, and Trump, seeking a return to office after his 2017-21 term, diverge on support for Ukraine and Nato, abortion rights, taxes, basic democratic principles and tariffs that could trigger trade wars.
On tariffs, Trump on Tuesday explicitly mentioned the European Union. “They’re brutal,” he said in Pennsylvania. “They sell millions and millions of cars in the United States. No, no, no, they are going to have to pay a big price.”
– REUTERS
