Harris rallies America against Trump's 'petty tyrant' legacy
- They didn’t lay down their lives to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant - said the Democratic candidate for U.S. President Kamala Harris on Tuesday during the culminating and largest rally of her election campaign in Washington. Harris spoke from the site where Trump encouraged a crowd of supporters to march on the Capitol in 2021.
30 October 2024 08:07
A week before the American elections, Kamala Harris delivered the final speech of her campaign from Ellipse Park in Washington, urging Americans to participate in the "most important election of their lives" and support "a new generation" of leaders.
Harris, speaking from the place where Donald Trump encouraged the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, emphasised that she understands the fears of "ordinary Americans." She called her opponent a vengeful and chaotic "petty tyrant".
She also recalled the events of that day.
- 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 (...) That’s who Donald Trump is and that’s who is asking you to give him another four years in the Oval Office - said Harris.
"250 years ago America wrested freedom from the hands of a petty tyrant"
The presidential candidate called for resolving the issue of immigration instead of "scaring" people with it and announced that she would fight for women to regain the right to abortion that "Donald Trump and his hand-selected Supreme Court justice took away from the women of America."
- Nearly 250 years ago, America was born when we wrested freedom from a petty tyrant. Across the generations, Americans have: Preserved that freedom. Expanded it. And in so doing, proved to the world that a government of, by, and for the people is strong and can endure. Those who came before us... they did not struggle, sacrifice and lay down their lives, only to see us cede our fundamental freedoms. They didn’t do that only to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant - Harris concluded.
Crowds at the rally in Washington
The Washington rally for the Democratic candidate - one of her few appearances outside the seven key states - gathered about 50,000 people and was likely her largest campaign event in the current campaign.
Participants lined up in a 1.5-kilometer queue hours before the rally. About half could not enter the park due to a lack of space and listened to the speech from the lawn under the Washington Monument.
Elections in the United States will be held on 5th November.