--- title: How Harris’ Big Speech Lays a Trap For Trump description: Harris is baiting Trump into defending his actions on Jan. 6 in the days before Election Day with the location of her primetime speech canonical: https://time.com/7133129/kamala-harris-trump-ellipse-rally/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-10-29T19:27:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:47:56.139Z article:section: Politics og:title: Harris' Big Speech Is a Trump Trap og:description: Harris is baiting Trump into defending his actions on Jan. 6 in the days before Election Day with the location of her primetime speech og:url: https://time.com/7133129/kamala-harris-trump-ellipse-rally/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7feafdddeec08ca3/698a91bbc9e94113ea1236e8/GettyImages-2180546747.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Vice President Harris Speaks Outside Her Residence In D.C. Before Departing For Pennsylvania og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Harris' Big Speech Is a Trump Trap twitter:description: Harris is baiting Trump into defending his actions on Jan. 6 in the days before Election Day with the location of her primetime speech twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7feafdddeec08ca3/698a91bbc9e94113ea1236e8/GettyImages-2180546747.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 04:45 video:published: 2024-10-30 section: politics topics: 2024 US presidential election, campaign closing argument, voter turnout, political division, American unity, new generation of leadership, vice president, bipartisan compromise, honesty in leadership, civil debate genre: political speech, campaign rally tones: urgent, unifying, hopeful, earnest, resolute emotions: determination (high), hope (high), concern (medium), warmth (medium) sentiment: positive audience: US voters, undecided voters, political news readers, campaign followers people: Kamala Harris content_suitability: politics [00:24-04:45] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Harris’ Big Speech Is a Trap For Trump > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ea2fc320-ca03-4d2b-9113-0836b6d418aa&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Kamala Harris Makes Her Final Pitch for Voters to ‘Turn the Page’ on Donald Trump [Watch (HLS stream): Kamala Harris Makes Her Final Pitch for Voters to ‘Turn the Page’ on Donald Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hHnVaB4x.m3u8) (4:45)  _Published 2024-10-30. Kamala Harris told Americans on Tuesday that Donald Trump’s efforts to sow division and fear are “not who we are” as she reinforced her campaign’s closing argument by delivering it from the same site where the Republican former president fomented the Capitol insurrection in 2021._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video presents a speech in which the speaker, who identifies as the current vice president and a candidate for president, addresses voters one week before the election. She frames the vote as a choice between freedom for every American and a country ruled by chaos and division. She calls for ending finger-pointing, turning the page on conflict and fear, and ushering in a new generation of leadership. She also introduces herself to voters and makes promises about how she would govern. ## Key points - The speaker says voters will have a chance to make a decision in one week that affects their lives, families and the country's future, and calls it probably the most important vote they will cast. (00:28) - She describes the election as a choice between a country rooted in freedom for every American and one ruled by chaos and division. (01:07) - She notes that many viewers have already voted while others are still deciding whether to vote, and says she will speak to everyone about the choice and stakes. (01:25) - She argues disagreement and robust debate are part of the American way, and that someone who disagrees does not make them 'the enemy within' but rather family, neighbors and fellow Americans. (01:50) - She says the country has been consumed by division, chaos and mutual distrust, and urges Americans to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms. (02:28) - She calls for turning the page on drama, conflict, fear and division, and for a new generation of leadership, offering herself as the next president. (02:57) - She says she has served as vice president for four years, has spent most of her career outside Washington, and is not afraid of tough fights against bad actors and powerful interests. (03:26) - She promises to always listen, tell the truth even when difficult, build consensus and compromise, and fight on voters' behalf. (04:05) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:58] One week to a pivotal vote. The speaker opens by telling voters they have a week to make a decision affecting their lives, families and the country. - [00:58 to 01:42] A choice between freedom and chaos. She frames the election as a choice about freedom for every American versus a country ruled by chaos and division, and addresses those who have and have not yet voted. - [01:42 to 02:28] Disagreement without enemies. She says robust debate is American and that people who disagree are fellow Americans, not the enemy within. - [02:28 to 03:26] Turning the page on division. She calls for ending division and finger-pointing and presents herself as the leader of a new generation. - [03:26 to 04:05] Introducing herself to voters. She describes her time as vice president, her career outside Washington, and her willingness to take on powerful interests. - [04:05 to 04:45] Promises to listen and fight. She admits imperfection and pledges to listen, tell the truth, seek compromise and fight on behalf of voters. ## Key quotes - [01:07] Kamala Harris: "It is a choice about whether we have a country rooted in" - [02:04] Kamala Harris: "And the fact that someone disagrees with us does not make them the enemy within." - [02:52] Kamala Harris: "We have to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms." - [02:57] Kamala Harris: "It is time to turn the page on the drama and the conflict," - [04:09] Kamala Harris: "I will always listen to you." - [04:32] Kamala Harris: "And if you give me the chance to fight on your behalf," ## Questions this video answers - What does the speaker say is at stake in the election one week away? [00:58] - How does the speaker describe people who disagree with her? [02:04] - What does the speaker mean by turning the page? [02:57] - How does the speaker describe her background and experience? [03:26] - What promises does the speaker make to voters? [04:05] ## Content suitability - politics [00:24-04:45]: Campaign speech by a presidential candidate making a closing argument to voters one week before an election.  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Oct 29, 2024 7:27 PM UTC Kamala Harris told Americans on Tuesday that Donald Trump’s efforts to sow division and fear are “not who we are” as she reinforced her campaign’s closing argument by delivering it from the same site where the Republican former president fomented the Capitol insurrection in 2021.  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Oct 29, 2024 7:27 PM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ As Kamala Harris circled in on a major speech to make her historic campaign’s final argument, one venue seemed as obvious as it was potent: the launching pad for the failed [insurrection](https://time.com/6137604/history-insurrection-jan-6/) on Jan. 6, 2021—perhaps the most obvious illustration of the real threats posed by sending former President Donald Trump back to the White House. So on Tuesday evening, just one week before voters render their verdict on a presidential campaign as ubiquitous as it is exhausting, Harris will take the stage on the 52-acre lawn that stands between the White House and the Washington Monument, also known as the Ellipse. While she is not expected to speak solely about democracy or the threat Trump poses to it, that message will be impossible to miss as Harris addresses thousands in person and many more watching across the country from the very spot where Trump [urged](https://time.com/5926883/trump-supporters-storm-capitol/) his legions to push Congress to ignore his electoral failure and keep him in power. It was an ugly, unprecedented moment in American history that [ended](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/us/politics/jan-6-capitol-deaths.html) with nine dead, about 150 law enforcement officials injured, and hundreds more traumatized. And it’s not hard to imagine how Trump might respond to such a blatant provocation. The visual of Harris speaking from the hallowed ground where Presidents have lit national Christmas trees and Menorahs alike should quietly remind voters that Trump’s [speech](https://www.npr.org/2021/02/10/966396848/read-trumps-jan-6-speech-a-key-part-of-impeachment-trial) was not a normal culmination of any White House term, and that the self-serving thinking behind it could be the norm if he’s allowed back into power. The moment will no doubt trigger Trump, or at the very least many of his surrogates, to once again defend his own actions on Jan. 6 and those of his supporters, more than 1,500 of whom have been charged related to that day, including felony cases against 571 individuals, [according](https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/california-man-sentenced-felony-charge-actions-during-jan-6-capitol-breach-0) to the Department of Justice. That’s exactly the message Democrats want Trump to be emphasizing in the week before Election Day. And putting Jan. 6 aside, the setting of the speech, with the White House itself serving as a backdrop, could also inspire voters to imagine what a President from a younger generation might unleash if given the chance. The core of thisargument is one that is finding receptive audiences, especially in states where voters might not love Harris but are susceptible to the suggestion that the United States needs to move past the chaos of the Trump years. The broad outline for the event is based on an account from a senior Harris campaign official, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive planning around a speech that still is not completely closed to tweaks. It’s been apparent for weeks that Harris was increasingly honing her message around the choice voters face between her campaign vision and that of Trump, whose attempt to return to power is as fueled by grievances over Jan. 6 as his desire to avoid any culpability for it and other criminal probes, all or most of which are likely to collapse should he regain presidential powers. On its own, the either-or choice is a compelling argument for those voters who expect Presidents to follow the rules they’re charged with enforcing. It’s why the Harris campaign has been coming back to the idea that the race is actually between a prosecutor in Harris and a felon in Trump. And yet this reality remains: roughly 3-in-4 Republicans [told](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/01/02/jan-6-poll-post-trump/) pollsters at the third anniversary in January that it’s time to move on, including 4-in-5 Trump supporters. In some [corners](https://newrepublic.com/article/170991/cpac-january-6-riot-prisoners) of the GOP, those in jails or prisons for actions related to Jan. 6—including those who attacked law enforcement with weapons—are [martyrs](https://time.com/6552370/january-6-myths-christian-nationalism/) to a [rigged](https://time.com/6107063/january-6-prisoners-alleged-mistreatment/) political system. In fact, Trump has [raised](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/22/us/politics/fund-raiser-jan-6-defendants-trump-golf-club.html) money for their legal defense funds and at rallies plays a low-fi [recording](https://apnews.com/article/j6-choir-trump-national-anthem-capitol-riot-79618f1f2a689c308dfdc34d54d327ea) of inmates singing the National Anthem as a [protest](https://time.com/6132931/january-6-anniversary-far-right/) against their detentions. In normal times, such an embrace of lawlessness would be disqualifying for the GOP that prides itself on law-and-order hardlines, but this is not the Republican Party of ol’. As voters see Harris making an intentional return to what some consider the scene of the crime, it could emphasize the criminal scrutiny Trump will still face if he fails to grasp the shield of a second term as President**.** After Trump has spent more than a year painting the pile of prosecutions against him as politically motivated, it’s Harris’ turn to make the explicit case that the American voters might be Trump’s true sentencing jury. It’s sure to be an effective two-fold message at the end of a campaign that has shown Harris' knack for tapping symbolic settings to convey larger points. (I’m thinking of Friday’s dystopian [warning](https://time.com/7099032/beyonce-kamala-harris-texas-abortion/) on abortion staged in Texas, where a strict abortion ban is in place.) But there’s no telling how Trump’s apologists might do with this move, especially given how Trump has convinced so, _so_ many people that he is actually a victim of a corrupt justice system. Yet, in many ways, Trump’s own orbit has spent recent weeks walking into the traps laid by Harris and her allies. It was most obvious during their lone debate, when Harris sprang one set piece after another to embarrass her rival. Yet at Trump’s rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden, Trump’s campaign trapped themselves by inviting speakers who [leaned ](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/28/us/politics/trump-msg-rally-backlash.html)into lewd and racist [comments](https://time.com/7099205/trump-rally-tony-hinchcliffe/). So far, the former President is unwilling to do the bare minimum to demonstrate he rejects those hateful remarks. As Trump has shown so many times since he launched the first of his three presidential nominations since 2015, it’s seldom a good bet to think he can shelve his ego in service of a bigger prize. It’s why he did not call off the mob back in 2021, why he did not attend Joe Biden’s inauguration in a break of basic decorum days later, and continues to work overtime to undermine faith in democracy itself. It’s just a given at this point that Harris’s choice of setting for perhaps the biggest speech of her campaign is assuredly going to get under Trump’s skin. Harris advisers say it’ll be a tactic that will find daily repetition in the swing states for the final week, with the goal of bringing out Trump’s worst impulses. If history serves, he won’t be able to resist. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite)_._ ## Transcript [00:24] Thank you, Thank you. Thank you, everyone. [00:28] So, listen, one week from today, [00:32] you will have the chance to make a decision that directly impacts your life, [00:40] the life of your family, [00:42] and the future of this country we love. [00:46] O. [00:51] And it will probably be the most important vote you ever cast. [00:58] And this election is more than [01:01] just a choice between two parties and two different candidates. [01:07] It is a choice about whether we have a country rooted in [01:13] freedom for every American or ruled by chaos and division. [01:25] Many of you watching have probably already cast your ballots. [01:31] Oh. [01:35] But I know many others are still [01:38] considering who to vote for or whether you'll vote at all. [01:42] So tonight, I will speak to everyone about the choice and the stakes in this election. [01:50] It's not the American way to not have disagreements. [01:55] We don't shy away from robust debate. [01:57] Robust debate effect. [01:58] We like a good debate, don't we? [02:00] We like a good debate. [02:04] And the fact that someone disagrees with us does not make them the enemy within. [02:13] They are family, neighbors, classmates, co workers. [02:21] They are fellow Americans. [02:23] And as Americans, we rise and fall together. [02:28] America for too long, [02:30] we have been consumed with too much division, [02:33] chaos, and mutual distrust. [02:36] And it can be easy then to forget a simple truth. [02:41] It doesn't have to be this way. [02:44] It doesn't have to be this way. [02:47] It is time to stop pointing fingers. [02:52] We have to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms. [02:57] It is time to turn the page on the drama and the conflict, [03:03] the fear and division. [03:06] It is time for a new generation of leadership in America. [03:17] And I am ready to offer that leadership as [03:21] the next president of the United States of America. [03:26] I recognize this has not been a typical campaign. [03:31] Even though I've had the honor of serving as [03:35] your vice president for the last four years, I know. [03:41] But I know that many of you are still getting to know who I am. [03:45] Well, let me tell you, [03:47] I am someone who has spent most of my career outside of Washington, DC. [03:52] So I know that not all the good ideas come from here. [03:57] I am not afraid of tough fights against bad actors and powerful interests. [04:03] I'll be honest with you, I'm not perfect. [04:05] I make mistakes, but here's what I promise you. [04:09] I will always listen to you. [04:12] Even Even if you don't vote for me, [04:15] I will always tell you the truth, [04:18] even if it is difficult to hear. [04:21] I will work every day to build consensus and reach compromise to get things done. [04:32] And if you give me the chance to fight on your behalf, [04:37] there is nothing in the world that will stand in my way. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7133129/kamala-harris-trump-ellipse-rally/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7133129/kamala-harris-trump-ellipse-rally/"},"headline":"Harris’ Big Speech Is a Trap For Trump","datePublished":"2024-10-29T19:27:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:47:56.139Z","description":"She's baiting Trump to talk more about Jan. 6","url":"https://time.com/7133129/kamala-harris-trump-ellipse-rally/","keywords":["The D.C. 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