Refer Report
“If Donald Trump is elected, he will go to the White House on his first day in office with an enemy list, but I will go to the White House with a to do list of things to do for the American people.”
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris stood on the podium in the capital Washington on the night of the 29th (local time) with the illuminated White House in the background, sharply contrasting herself with her rival, former President Trump. He hurled harsh words at former President Trump, calling him a “petty tyrant” and “dictator,” and appealed for support, saying, “It is time for the United States to need a new generation of leadership.”
The place Vice President Harris chose as the stage for his speech, which he called his ‘closing argument’ on this day, exactly one week before the US presidential election, was Ellipse Park right next to the White House. From the location selection, a calculation was made to maximize differentiation from former President Trump. Here, on January 6, 2021, then-President Trump gave a speech disapproving the results of the 2020 presidential election, and then polarized supporters stormed the Federal Capitol. This is the starting point of the January 6th Congressional riot, which was recorded as ‘the darkest day in the history of American democracy.’
Vice President Harris also recalled the January 6 incident in his speech that day and said, “We all know who Trump is. “This is the man who, knowing that he lost a free and fair election almost four years ago, sent an armed mob into the U.S. Congress here to try to overturn the will of the people,” he said.
He referred to former President Trump as “a man who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with dissatisfaction, and wants unchecked power.” In particular, “our pioneering patriots who fought in Normandy (World War II), Selma (anti-racism), Seneca Falls (women’s suffrage), Stonewall (LGBTQ rights), and farms and factories (labor rights) ensure that we have basic freedoms.” “I did not fight and sacrifice to see him give up and surrender to another petty tyrant,” he fiercely attacked former President Trump.
He also mentioned North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin and said, “World leaders think of Trump as a person who can be easily fooled.” “I will not give up but strengthen America’s global leadership,” he said. “I will stand with our friends because I know that our alliances keep Americans safe and America stronger.”
The Harris camp said that 75,000 people gathered at Vice President Harris’s rally on this day, exceeding the organizers’ original expectations. In the end, the grassy hill of the Washington Monument across from Ellipse Park, outside the barricade area, was filled with citizens trying to watch the speech. Three or four hours before the event started, long lines of supporters of different genders and skin colors formed in the area.
Matty, a black woman, and Amanda, a white woman, both George Washington University students who voted for the first time, expressed their support by saying, “Harris is the only candidate who respects me as a human being and does not exclude minorities.” Diente (31), a black man, said, “We can never go back to the Trump era,” and dismissed “all media reports about black people leaving their support for the Democratic Party as unbelievable propaganda.” Anne (57), a white woman who drove three hours from Pennsylvania, said, “You can tell just by looking at the size of the crowd. “I have a good feeling,” he said.
There were also voices expressing concern that attempts to challenge the presidential election like four years ago would be repeated. Andrew (27), a white man, said, “Trump’s actions, which broke the democratic rule of peaceful transfer of power, are still shocking,” and added, “Still, I hope the federal government will control the chaos well this time.”
Meanwhile, former President Trump, campaigning in Pennsylvania, claimed, “We are ahead in all seven swing states.” In a CNN poll released on this day, Vice President Harris was ahead in Arizona, a sunbelt (southern region with a warm climate), and former President Trump was ahead by 1 percentage point in Nevada. According to the Washington Post’s analysis of opinion poll averages, the two candidates are locked in a very close race with a difference of 1 to 2 percentage points, which is within the margin of error.
Source: Korean