PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris plans to lay out her campaign's closing argument by returning to the site near the White House where Donald Trump helped incite a mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 — hoping it will crystalize for voters the fight between defending democracy and sowing political chaos.
Her campaign says Harris will give a speech at the Ellipse on Tuesday — one week before Election Day — and will urge the nation to “turn the page” toward a new era and away from Trump. The site is symbolic, since it's where Trump delivered a speech on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress was convening to certify Joe Biden's victory in the election that past November.
In it, Trump lied repeatedly about widespread voter fraud that had not occurred and urged supporters to fight. Hundreds then stormed the Capitol in a deadly riot. Word of the speech came from a senior Harris campaign official who insisted on anonymity to discuss an address that is still in development.
The Harris campaign is betting that her speaking at the Ellipse can provide an opportunity for the vice president to stress that the country no longer wants to be defined by a political combativeness that Trump seems to relish. Trump has promised to pardon those jailed for their role in the Capitol attack should he reclaim the presidency during the election Nov. 5.
About 4 in 10 likely voters in a CNN poll from September said the economy was their most important issue when deciding how.