A to-do list, size matters and a ‘little tyrant’: key moments from Kamala Harris’ speech

Harris deliberately chose to speak from the Ellipse. It is the same place in Washington where Republican Donald Trump helped incite a mob that attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. But the vice president did not devote much of her speech to the day’s violence, instead using the field between Constitution Avenue and the White House more as a backdrop — a quiet reminder of the different choices Americans face.

“Donald Trump has spent a decade trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other,” she said, adding that he wants to return to the White House “to focus not on your problems, but on his.”

Harris worked for many years as a prosecutor. Before becoming a senator, she served as California’s attorney general. And during her campaign she often says that she has only had one customer: the people. In her speech, she talked about her past work against con artists, violent offenders who abused women and children, and cartels that trafficked in weapons and people.

She said she would bring an instinct to protect to the White House.

“There’s something going on about people being treated unfairly or overlooked that affects me,” she said.

A week before the election, Harris said, “I know a lot of you are still getting to know who I am.”

The Democratic candidate has been active for just three months in a compressed campaign launched after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race. Harris is still confronting voters who say they want to know more about her and how she will govern. That’s why she spent some time on Tuesday talking about her career, her goals and background.

“I’ll be honest with you: I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. But this is what I promise you: I will always listen to you, even if you don’t vote for me.”

Harris devoted much of her speech to talking about the policies she would implement if she won the White House, including helping first-time homeowners with down payments and helping the so-called “sandwich generation” of adults caring for their children . young children and elderly parents by allowing elderly care to be funded by Medicare. She said she would work to pass a bipartisan border security bill that was shelved last year after Trump encouraged Republicans in Congress to let it die.

And she said she would work to bring back protections against abortion. “I will fight to restore what Donald Trump and his hand-picked Supreme Court justice have taken away from the women of America,” Harris said. The Supreme Court, with three justices appointed by Trump, struck down federal protections for abortion in 2022. Abortion has since become one of the most motivating issues for the Democratic base in the 2024 elections.

“If he were elected, Donald Trump would walk into that office on day one with a list of enemies,” she said. “If I am elected, I will walk in with a to-do list.”

The Ellipse is a grassy expanse between the White House and the Washington Monument, long hosting political events and national traditions such as the annual lighting of the Christmas trees. The hall was packed on Tuesday. Crowds poured onto the National Mall toward the Washington Monument, where giant screens and speakers were set up so people could hear and see from far away.

The cheers of the rowdy crowd could be heard from the White House driveway. Harris’ campaign said it was its largest rally yet. She already has stadiums and other locations full of supporters during her rallies. Harris is keeping Trump from questioning the size of the audience — a particular concern for the Republican leader, who claimed the campaign had to transport people to fill the space on Tuesday.

Harris summed up the criticism of Trump in two words: “little tyrant.”

She warned that Trump is a man ruled by grievances, someone who would focus on himself and his “enemies list” if he entered the White House. She harkens back to the founding of the country, when Americans fought for freedom, and then endured decades of hard-fought struggles for civil rights.

“They did not struggle, sacrifice and give their lives just to see us give up our basic freedoms. They didn’t do that just to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant,” she said. “These United States of America, we are not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators.”

Just before Harris was scheduled to speak, Biden was making a campaign call in response to a comedian who called Puerto Rico trash during a Trump rally last weekend. The president said, “The only trash I see floating out there are his supporters.”

He had joined a national call organized by the advocacy group Voto Latino. Biden urged callers to “vote to keep Donald Trump out of the White House,” adding: “He is a real danger, not just to Latinos, but to all people.”

Biden’s comments were quickly picked up by Republicans, who said he was denigrating Trump supporters, a distraction for Harris as she tries to reach Republican voters.

Biden quickly sent a message on social media to clarify his comments.

“His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable,” Biden said of Trump. “That’s all I wanted to say.”

The event was intended as a campaign finale, intended to lay out in stark terms the choice for voters next week. But it is far from Harris’ last campaign event. She will hit all the key battleground states as she makes her final pitch to voters.

On Wednesday she will headline events in Wisconsin, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, and on Thursday she will hold rallies in Arizona and Nevada. More events are expected before Election Day.

The campaign wants to attract voters from many different demographics, hoping that a swing vote here and there can lead to a victory in a razor-close race with Trump.