Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris will argue that a potential second Donald Trump presidency would be one that is steeped in chaos and division, but not focused on Americans’ needs, in a Tuesday evening speech from the National Mall.
The vice president seeks to balance her closing argument between a dire admonition to rally against an opponent she’s labeled a fascist threat and an affirmative case for her own policy and economic agenda.
“America, we know what Donald Trump has in mind. More chaos. More division. And policies that help those at the very top and hurt everyone else. I offer a different path. And I ask for your vote,” Harris plans to say, based on excerpts her campaign released ahead of her remarks.
The event’s location — the same spot where Republican nominee Trump rallied supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, and within eyeshot of the Oval Office — is intended both to evoke the mayhem of that day and the gravity of the election’s results, Harris aides have said.
But a major challenge for the vice president has been streamlining and consolidating her often scattershot argument to voters who have spent a decade hearing about the dangers Trump poses, even as new outrages — including racist remarks made by speakers at his Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday — continue to roil US politics. That mission is made all the more difficult thanks to the pinch of post-pandemic inflation and the low political standing of President Joe Biden after concerns over his acuity forced him to end his reelection bid.
On Tuesday night, Harris plans to make the case that she ultimately is an avatar for the notion of freedom — a term she broadly defines to encompass economic mobility, reproductive rights, and protection from Trump’s vowed retribution were he returned to the White House.
“I pledge to listen to experts. To those who will be impacted by the decisions I make. And to people who disagree with me. Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy,” Harris will say, according to the excerpts.
Harris’ remarks may take outsized importance in a race that polls show balancing on a knife’s edge, and with a critical bloc of undecided voters saying they want to learn more about the vice president.
Harris looks to address that curiosity by outlining her economic platform, which offers tax breaks and federal subsidies to new parents, first-time homebuyers, and those starting new businesses. She intends to shore up concern over inflation by pledging to prosecute price gougers — a proposal that, while earning her the nickname “Comrade Kamala” from Trump, has proved popular enough to narrow the traditional Republican advantage on economic issues with voters, according to polls.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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