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The speech will be iconic, and is expected to draw in tens of thousands of people.
Vice President Kamala Harris is set to deliver her closing argument Tuesday night from the Ellipse, an area near the White House with deep symbolic resonance linked to the deadly January 6 insurrection in 2021.
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Campaign officials now expect over 40,000 people to gather for the address, initially permitted for 20,000 attendees, in what they describe as a pivotal moment to reach undecided voters and those weary of political division, contrasting her approach with that of former President Donald Trump.
“Tonight’s a major moment for the vice president to make her closing argument to the American people,” said Jen O’Malley Dillon, Harris’s campaign chair, during a press call Tuesday morning previewing the event. “We know she’s going to deliver strong remarks that are really going to reach people,” O’Malley Dillon said, highlighting the campaign’s “focus on making sure that the American people can hear from the vice president delivering an optimistic and hopeful message, really grounded in her belief in America.”
O’Malley Dillon also noted that the program would be designed to engage attendees and viewers alike. The evening’s lineup will feature music and video presentations, showcasing testimonials from “real people sharing their stories about why they’re supporting the vice president, what the stakes are in this election, and how they really see themselves [through] the lens of her leadership.”
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The Ellipse, located just south of the White House, became a defining location in American history on January 6, 2021, when Trump held a rally encouraging supporters to march to the Capitol. That rally escalated into a violent breach of the Capitol building, where hundreds of Trump supporters attempted to halt the certification of President Joe Biden’svictory. The insurrection resulted in multiple deaths, widespread injuries, and property destruction.
O’Malley Dillon explained that the Ellipse location was chosen to highlight these historical contrasts.
“We believe the Ellipse is significant, and it’s significant for two reasons. One, of course, is the backdrop of the White House. It’s really a reminder of the gravity of the job, how much a president can do for good and for bad to shape the country and impact people’s lives,” she said. Describing the site as “a stark visualization of probably the most infamous example of Donald Trump and how he’s used his power for bad,” she added that Trump was “focusing on himself and spreading division and chaos and inciting a mob to try to maintain his own power and put himself over the country.”
The speech will focus on critical issues, including Harris’s middle-class agenda, her plans to reduce prescription drug costs, and other economic concerns. Harris will address reproductive rights as well, a central focus of her platform, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. O’Malley Dillon noted, “You’re going to hear her really speak to middle-class families [about] what they’re worried about and what she’s going to do about it.” She said Harris plans to underscore a “new generation of leadership” to move the country past divisive politics.
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Campaign co-chair former Louisiana U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond described the address as akin to a prosecutor’s closing argument. “She’s given her opening argument to the voters, spent the last three months laying out the evidence, the facts, and now she’ll make her closing argument directly to the American people,” Richmond said, explaining that “the speech will be on [a] clear choice. Voters are facing this election between Trump and his obsession with himself versus her new generation of leadership that is focused on the American people.”
Following her address, Harris will embark on a week-long tour of battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. Richmond noted Harris’s planned contrast of her priorities with Trump’s legacy: “She’ll use the powerful symbolism of the location to remind Americans that Trump is someone so all-consumed by his grievances and his power and his endless desire for…revenge, that he is not focused on the needs of the American people.”
