ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Last night, one week before Election Day, Kamala Harris made her closing argument to the American people.
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VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: America, for too long we have been consumed with too much division, chaos and mutual distrust. And it can be easy then to forget a simple truth - it doesn't have to be this way.
SHAPIRO: She stood in front of the White House, on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., in the same spot where former President Donald Trump addressed his supporters before they attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The vice president spoke for about half an hour, reviewing the agenda she'd pursue as president.
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HARRIS: I will enact the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on groceries.
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HARRIS: I'll work to lower the cost of child care, which is out of reach. And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom nationwide, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.
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SHAPIRO: And she drew stark contrasts between herself and Donald Trump.
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HARRIS: And on Day 1, if elected...
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HARRIS: On Day 1, if elected, Donald Trump would walk into that office with an enemies list. When elected, I will walk in with a to-do list...
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HARRIS: ...Full of priorities of what I will get done for the American people.
SHAPIRO: NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram watched the vice president's speech. Hi, Deepa.
DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Hey there.
SHAPIRO: Was there more to the setting than just the January 6, 2021, symbolism?
SHIVARAM: I mean, I think part of it, Ari, was, you know, there is such a powerful statement to have Kamala Harris standing in front of the White House. And in her remarks, you know, she pointed back to the White House literally. Like, she turned her back, pointed to it and asked the people in the crowd to imagine what Day 1 of a Trump administration would look like versus Day 1 of a Harris administration. And she's really trying to draw this contrast of Trump having this enemies list, and that's what he would come in focusing on, versus Harris, she says, would have a to-do list of things that she wants to accomplish.
It hones back to her sense of pragmatism that she is, like, kind of branding herself as in terms of a politician. You know, but I'll also say this is kind of a show of force, right? This is, according to the campaign, 75,000 people on the National Mall. It's the largest event that Harris has had in her campaign running against someone, as we know, who is pretty focused on crowd sizes.
SHAPIRO: So it feels like there were two big planks to this speech - the Trump contrast and her own policy agenda. To start with the Trump contrast, what is her campaign's calculation here about trying to drive people away from him versus trying to drive people towards her?
SHIVARAM: Yeah, I think it's both/and, right? It's - she's doing two parts, which is, one, trying to draw that contrast against Trump. And this is something that, you know, even when Biden was the nominee, that Democrats really struggled with, which is what they call Trump amnesia. It's why you have someone like Kamala Harris calling restrictions on abortion rights Trump abortion bans or Trump tax cuts for the rich. And so she really tries to emphasize Trump's role in a lot of what she says was the chaos of the years of his administration.
On the other side though, she is really consistent about reminding people at her rallies that she's not trying to run a campaign that's just against somebody or against something. She wants to bring a new generation of leadership to Washington, new ideas. And that's something she's really tried to bring into the fold too, is say, you know, I'm not just a continuation of Joe Biden's presidency, and I'm also basically trying to run as the, you know, candidate entirely against everything Trump stands for.
SHAPIRO: So when you listen to what she included in that 30-minute speech, in contrast to Trump's speech on Sunday that was more than an hour, what were the policy proposals that you think are most notable?
SHIVARAM: Well, there's a couple that I will say get really, you know, strong reactions from the crowds that she's going to. And this is not just in Washington, of course. This is in, you know, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, in states all over the country. So one of them is this plan to make it more affordable to take care of your parents while also taking care of your children at home. And one thing I think is really interesting about Harris is that she really likes to bring her own personal experience when she lays out some of these plans.
So when she talks about the at-home care for seniors plan, you know, she talks about her own experience caring for her mom, who died of cancer. And she knows what it's like to, you know, have to try and help someone, you know, find food that they can keep down. And she really tries to bring a personal lens to this.
SHAPIRO: And speaking of plans, abortion has been front and center for Democrats ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Is that still kind of the leading talking point for the Harris campaign in this final week?
SHIVARAM: It's a huge one. I mean, keep in mind, this is the issue that really - you know, Harris took the lead on as vice president. And that certainly carried into her campaign for president here. And it's something that really fires up a lot of voters still, and particularly, like we had talked about earlier, some of those Republican voters, some of those independent voters who maybe - particularly women - who have maybe never voted for a Democrat before but are really considering it this time, in this election, to cast their ballot for Harris. And we'll see where it kind of falls into play in these last seven days.
SHAPIRO: And let's note that while Democrats are focusing on Harris' speech today, Republicans are focusing on something that President Biden said on a call with Latino voters shortly before she spoke.
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PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it's un-American.
SHAPIRO: Deepa, how is this playing out?
SHIVARAM: I mean, this isn't exactly on message for the Harris campaign, right? And Republicans, Trump, they're already using this clip to criticize Biden and Democrats. The White House did weigh in, and Biden posted on X trying to clarify his remarks from last night. He said he was referring to the comedian who made the remarks calling Puerto Rico garbage. And he was calling that rhetoric garbage, not Trump's supporters.
But, you know, this really undercuts Harris' message at a time when she's only got a few days left here to convince Republican voters, independent voters to cast their ballot for her. And today, as she headed out to North Carolina, Harris distanced herself from those comments. She said she strongly disagrees with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.
SHAPIRO: NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram. Thank you.
SHIVARAM: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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