Washington: US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris launched a fierce attack on her Republican rival Donald Trump, describing him as “unstable” and “obsessed with revenge” while urging Americans to reject his chaos and division.
Making a passionate appeal to her countrymen, Vice President Harris used the last major speech of her campaign to present herself as a fighter who would usher in a new generation of leadership.
“Donald Trump intends to use the United States military against American citizens who simply disagree with him. People he calls —“the enemy from within". This is not a candidate for President who is thinking about how to make your life better," she said.
"This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance, and out for unchecked power,” Harris said.
Harris, 60, will take on Trump, 78, in the November 5 election.
Addressing thousands of people at the Ellipse in Washington, DC, where Trump told his supporters on January 6, 2021, to “fight like hell,” shortly before they ransacked the US Capitol, Harris described the election as an existential choice between the liberties and the “chaos and division”.
"He has an Enemies List of people he intends to prosecute. He says one of his highest priorities is to set free the violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers on January 6,” she said.
Harris said it was time to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms.
"It is time to turn the page on the drama and conflict, the fear and division. It is time for a new generation of leadership in America," she said.
“And I am ready to offer that leadership as the next President of the United States,” she said.
In discussing her policy plans, she cast herself as a president who would expand Medicare to cover home health care, who would back women’s reproductive rights and a president who would prize compromise.
“I am someone who has spent most of my career outside of Washington. So I know that not all good ideas come from here. I am not afraid of tough fights against bad actors and powerful interests,” she said.
Harris said her mother instilled in her a drive to hold accountable those who use their wealth or power to take advantage of other people.
"The drive to protect hard-working Americans who aren’t always seen or heard, and deserve a voice. That is the kind of president I will be,” Harris said.
When elected, Harris said she would walk into the Oval Office, with a To-Do list.
“Full of priorities on what I will get done for the American people. And I will work with everyone —Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—to help Americans who are working hard and still struggling to get ahead," she said.
“My presidency will be different because the challenges we face are different. Our top priority as a nation four years ago was to end the pandemic and rescue the economy. Now our biggest challenge is to lower costs, costs that were rising even before the pandemic, and that are still too high,” Harris said.
