WASHINGTON, D.C. – Vice President Kamala Harris used her closing argument, one week out from the election, to complete a messaging pivot at the Ellipse, where Trump once addressed his supporters hours before the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot.
Harris, surrounded by her usual “freedom” signage, told tens of thousands of her supporters that Trump was “obsessed with revenge,” is a “petty tyrant” and would seek to use the military against his enemies if elected to the White House on Nov. 5. The vice president, adding that the former president was “out for unchecked power” and had an enemies list, further drew on the location of her speech within the first few minutes of her closing argument to try to prove Trump is such.
Harris’ closing arguments displayed a larger campaign message in the final weeks of the election, one that has shifted from one of “joy” to that of calling Trump a fascist, “unhinged,” “unstable” and unfit to lead.
“Look, we know who Donald Trump is. He is the person who stood at this very spot nearly four years ago and sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol to overturn the will of the people in a free and fair election,” Harris said.
“Donald Trump has told us his priorities for a second term. He has an enemies list of people he intends to prosecute. He says one of his highest priorities is to set free the violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers on January 6th,” the continued.
Harris’ final message is one that closely mirrors President Joe Biden’s campaign messaging of pinning Trump down as a “threat to democracy,” which often touched on the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot to illustrate their point.
The Daily Caller spoke to several rally goers at Harris rally, some of who echoed the vice president’s message that “democracy” was on the line in the 2024 election and feared a dangerous Trump if he was elected.
“I think it’s our democracy [that is at stake,]” Jason Vaughn, a nurse practitioner from the south visiting D.C. for the rally and work, told the Caller, “I believe Trump is a fascist.”
“I think he has figured out that he has all this power, and the Supreme Court has told him he can do whatever he wants, and I think he is going to run with that if he is around. It’s do or die,” Marcus Reed, a government employee who lives in D.C., told the Caller.
While her supporters worried about the potential of Trump with unchecked power, the vice president told them in her speech that he could weaponize the military against them.
“Donald Trump intends to use the United States military against American citizens who simply disagree with him. People he calls — quote — ‘the enemy from within.’ This is not a candidate for President who is thinking about how to make your life better,” she said.
“This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance, and out for unchecked power,” Harris continued.
Biden’s messaging reportedly made top Democrats anxious as it wasn’t landing with voters, but still the campaign continued with it. At one point, Biden met with historians to help frame his speeches around “the ongoing threats to democracy and democratic institutions both here in America and around the world, as well as the opportunities we face as a nation,” the White House previously said.
It’s something Biden has continued to parrot despite dropping out of the race. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday that the president thinks Trump is a fascist.
“You have heard from this president over and over again about the threats to democracy,” Jean-Pierre said. “And the president has spoken about that. You have heard from the former president himself that he is going to be a dictator on day one. This is him, not us. This is him.”
About an hour before, Harris had unexpectedly given remarks from her residence in response to a report from The New York Times and The Atlantic. Both outlets conducted interviews with former Trump chief of staff John Kelly, who said the former president “met the definition of a fascist” and admired figures like former Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
The Atlantic article citing Kelly’s comments additionally alleged that Trump disparaged a deceased veteran and her family. The Trump campaign alongside former officials, the deceased veteran’s family and their lawyer have all gone on the record to deny the story.
Harris has repeatedly spoken about Kelly’s comments anyways.
“It is clear from John Kelly’s words that Donald Trump is someone who, I quote, ‘certainly falls into the general definition of fascist.’ Who vowed to be a dictator on day one and vowed to use the military as his personal militia to carry out his personal and political vendettas,” the vice president said.
“Donald Trump is increasingly unhinged and unstable, and in a second term, people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guard rails against his propensities and his actions,” she continued.
Kamala Harris, who calls Trump a fascist, and Joe Biden, who calls Trump’s supporters garbage, have something to say about the divisiveness of Trump’s rhetoric.
— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) October 30, 2024
A few hours after her remarks and Jean-Pierre’s comments, the vice president said she believed Trump was a fascist.
“You quoted General Milly calling Trump a fascist. You yourself have not used that word to describe him. Let me ask you tonight, do you think Donald Trump is a fascist?” CNN host Anderson Cooper asked Harris.
“Yes, I do,” Harris said without hesitation. “And I also believe that the people who know him best on this subject should be trusted.”
But since Harris has pivoted to the message that seemingly played into Biden’s demise, her own party has started to fret about the vice president’s election chances.
“It doesn’t play well in communities that are struggling to make ends meet, and that’s the problem. They’re talking to the wrong people,” Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, a former state representative and Detroit school board member who is backing Harris, told Politico. “We can’t keep campaigning on modes of fear.”
I made a promise to the people of our country: I will fight for you, regardless of who you vote for, and be a president for all Americans. Here is my closing argument. https://t.co/rOqLcTB0TR
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 29, 2024
During her speech, the vice president drew parallels between the 2024 election to the American revolution, as in both situations, she argued power needed to be wrestled from a “petty tyrant.”
“Just like I always have. Nearly 250 years ago, America was born when we wrested freedom from a petty tyrant,” she said. “Across the generations, Americans have: Preserved that freedom. Expanded it. And in so doing, proved to the world that a government of, by and for the people is strong and can endure. And those who came before us — the patriots at Normandy and Selma. Seneca Falls and Stonewall. On farmlands and factory floors.”
“They did not struggle, sacrifice and lay down their lives, only to see us cede our fundamental freedoms, only to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant,” Harris continued.
Taylor, a Maryland woman in case management supporting Harris at her D.C. rally, expressed fear at the thought of Trump being president. The Caller omitted Taylor’s last name for the sake of anonymity to allow her to discuss her views freely.
“It’s scary to think that Donald Trump will be back in office, and Project 2025, he is saying he isn’t using it but it was written, so that’s scary,” Taylor told the Caller.
Other Harris supporters at the Ellipse thought that the very rights they hold today could disappear if Trump reaches the White House again.
“Everyone’s freedoms,” a Maryland woman in the travel industry, given anonymity to speak freely, told the Caller. “Even the right to vote.”