Kamala Harris: In autumn light, Kamala Harris evokes unity theme against divisive Trump | World News

TOI correspondent from Washington: Standing in the same spot on the Ellipse where Donald Trump’s remarks at his Stop the Steal rally on January 6, 2021 ignited a riot on the US Capitol, Kamala Harris on Tuesday pledged to heal America and turn the page on the “drama and conflict, the fear and division” her opponent has generated.
“On day one if elected, Donald Trump would walk into that office with an enemies list. When elected, I will walk in with a to-do list full of priorities of what I will get done for the American people,” Harris said in closing arguments at a rally in the park adjacent to the White House.
More than 75,000 people packed the venue, an optical reminder to American voters of what transpired after the MAGA supremo’s incendiary speech following his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. “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 an election — an election he knew he lost,” Harris told the gathering.
Calling her MAGA rival a “petty tyrant” and a “wannabe dictator” who is “unstable,” “obsessed with revenge,” “consumed with grievance” and “out for unchecked power,” Harris promised a different Presidency in which she would listen to experts, to those who will be impacted by the decisions she will make, and to people who disagree with her.
“Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy. He wants to put them in jail. I’ll give them a seat at my table,” she said, adding, “It is time to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms.” Harris is expected to name at least one Republican to her 15-member cabinet if she wins.
The Ellipse, surrounded by the White House, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and other landmarks, provided a spectacular setting on a lovely fall evening with autumn leaves cascading down. The optics helped. Even by liberal accounts, the pep rally was needed to energize the Harris campaign which has lost some steam down the final stretch with just a week to go for Election Day.
Harris also suggested the MAGA supremo is a dupe who would be easily manipulated by world leaders with flattery or favor. “You can believe that autocrats like Putin and Kim Jong Un are rooting for him,” she clapped back at Trump, who has said world leaders will bully her like she is a baby and she won’t be able to stand up to them.
Strong in content and focus, but lacking resonance in delivery, Harris nevertheless won plaudits for her message of unity and upbeat tone, a stark contrast to the MAGA megaphone dark, dystopian view of an America being decimated under anyone but himself. Calling the United States the “greatest idea humanity ever devised,” Harris said “In 7 days, we have the power to turn the page, and start writing the next chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.”
In some ways it was a leaf out of the MAGA theme but without the toxic mix of insults, grievances, and complaints that Trump stews in. She touched only briefly on the two key issues Trump is running ahead of her on — immigration and inflation. “Politicians must stop treating immigration as an issue to scare up votes in an election. And instead, treat it as a serious challenge that we must finally come together and solve,” she said about the first.
She was more assertive about the economy, acknowledging that “our biggest challenge is to lower costs… that are still too high,” and how she would mitigate it with a federal ban on price gouging on groceries, a cap on the price of insulin and limit out-of-pocket prescription costs.