Kamala Harris Washington Ellipse rally: Vice president savages Trump, reminds voters of Capitol riots

Vice President Kamala Harris has reminded voters of the atrocities and violence of the January 6 Capitol riots, holding a rally in the exact location where then-President Donald Trump first encouraged a mob.

Ms Harris stepped out in front of 20,000 Americans at the Ellipse, a park near the White House where on January 6, 2021, then-President Donald Trump urged supporters to “fight like hell” and march to the US Capitol, where congressmen were certifying his loss.

“We know who Donald Trump is,” Ms Harris said.

“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.

“An election that he knew he lost.

“Americans died as a result of that attack.”

Ms Harris launched into what was possibly her most brutal Trump takedown of the 2024 campaign.

“America this is not a candidate who is thinking about how to make your life better.”

“This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance and out for unchecked power.

“This election is more than just a choice between two parties and two different candidates,” she said.

“It is a choice about whether we have a country rooted in freedom for every American or ruled by chaos and division.”

The vice president acknowledged that this has not been a normal campaign.

Ms Harris spoke about the “honour” of working with US President Joe Biden but wanted to explain what kind of president she would be.

“I’ll be honest with you, I’m not perfect. I make mistakes, but here’s what I promise you,” she said.

“I will always listen to you. Even if you don’t vote for me.

“I will always tell you the truth, even if it is hard to hear.”

Harris then pointed to The White House behind her, saying: “In less than 90 days either Donald Trump or I will be in the Oval Office”.

The Democratic crowd erupted chanting “Kamala”.

Ms Harris continued to paint the picture of two different versions of America that hinge on the result of the election.

“On day one, if elected, Donald Trump will walk into the Oval Office with an enemy list,” Ms Harris said.

“I will walk in with a to-do list full of priorities of what I will get done for the American people.”

Ms Harris worked her way through a list of issues from cost of living, home ownership, reproductive rights and immigration.

The vice president said her “presidency will be different” than Mr Biden’s.

“We have different priorities now,” she said.

Speaking about national defence, Ms Harris is preparing to be “lethal”.

“As commander in chief, I will ensure we have the most powerful and lethal force in the world,” MS Harris said.

“I will strengthen, not surrender, America’s global leadership.“

The crowd appeared to react more positively to a stronger version of Ms Harris at the rally compared to recent events.

Harris chooses Capitol Riot birthplace for rally

Four people died in the ensuing riot, and one police officer who defended the Capitol died the following day. Mr Trump has said, if he is re-elected, he will pardon the more than 1500 participants who have been charged with crimes.

Ahead of the rally being held on Tuesday local time, Mr Trump falsely said Democrats had staged a “coup” to force Mr Biden to drop his re-election bid.

At an event at his Florida estate one week before the November 5 election, Mr Trump said Ms Harris would be too dangerous to serve as president, pointing to foreign wars and high levels of immigration that have occurred during her tenure as vice president.

His accusation that Democrats had unfairly forced Mr Biden out of the race recalled Mr Trump’s false claims that he had lost the 2020 election due to fraud.

“They stole the presidency of the United States. You can call it a coup, you can call it whatever. But they stole it,” he told supporters.

“The way they took that away from him was not right.”

Mr Biden, 81, abandoned his re-election bid in July after weeks of pressure from fellow Democrats who worried he was too old for a rematch with Mr Trump, 78.

Crowds flooded to the park almost five hours ahead of Ms Harris’ speech.

Her lead over Mr Trump has dwindled in the final weeks of the campaign to a single percentage point, and she now leads 44 per cent to 43 per cent among registered voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday.

Ms Harris has led Mr Trump in every Reuters/Ipsos poll since she entered the race in July, but her advantage has steadily shrunk since late September.

Throughout her campaign, Ms Harris has tried to paint Mr Trump as a threat to democracy who will infringe on the rights of Americans, including on the reproductive rights of women.

For his part, Mr Trump has sought to tie Ms Harris to Biden’s handling of the economy - a top issue for voters, and one which voters have consistently given him an edge.

High prices of food, utilities and housing have roiled voters, though the US economy has outperformed the rest of the developed world since the COVID-19 crisis.

Mr Trump has also made his opposition to illegal immigration a central theme of his bid.

At his event on Tuesday, which started over an hour late, he played a video highlighting a 12-year-old girl who was killed in Houston, allegedly by two Venezuelan men in the US illegally.

“In less than four years Kamala Harris has obliterated our borders,” he said.

Mr Trump is due later in the day to visit a heavily Hispanic city in Pennsylvania, two days after his rally in New York drew outrage because of an ally’s vulgar and racist remarks.

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who opened for Trump, called the Caribbean US territory of Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” and disparaged black Americans, Jewish people and Latinos.

- With Reuters