5 things to watch for Harris’s speech at the Ellipse

Vice President Harris will solidify her closing argument that Donald Trump is a danger to democracy by delivering a speech on Tuesday at the Ellipse — the very site where the former president spoke just before a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Harris’s speech a week before Election Day is expected to be a further plea to voters to turn the page on Trump and highlight his role in the events of that day.

She will focus on the two different visions of America that voters are given in this election and after the speech, she will take that closing message on the road and visit every battleground state over the next week, a senior Harris campaign official previewed.

Here are five things to watch.

Harris to emphasize Trump’s threat to democracy

Harris will keep up her plea to voters that Trump is a threat to democracy, which has become a major part of her closing message.

The Harris campaign official described the tone of the speech as “optimistic” and “hopeful” but said it will center on her and Trump’s different visions of America. Harris will argue that Trump as president would focus on a supposed “enemies list.” Harris will reiterate that she, instead, has a “to-do list.”

She is set to warn voters that Trump is all-consumed by his grievances and desire for retribution and will argue that tens of millions of Americans are frustrated by the division in politics, according to the campaign official.

The vice president has increasingly been leaning into labeling Trump as a threat to democracy and talking about his role in the riots on Jan. 6 during her rallies. But as polling tightens and shifts towards Trump’s favor, Democrats have expressed concerns that she has made her campaign a rebuke of the former president instead of about her own plans.

When questioned on Friday about those concerns, the vice president said the American people “can hold many thoughts at once.”

“One of the highest priorities for the American people right now is bringing down cost… and will be the priority of my work when I'm elected president United States,” she said. “My priority includes fighting for our democracy… and I will continue to speak on all of them.”

Ellipse turnout

The Harris campaign expects about 20,000 people to be in the audience at the Ellipse, according to an updated permit from the National Park Service that was expanded from an initial 7,500 people.

The campaign is expecting attendees near the site with crowd overflow on the northeast quadrant of the Washington Monument grounds for the program slated to be from 7:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.ET on Tuesday night. The site opens to the public starting at 3 p.m., which will allow for a large crowd to accumulate before it begins, according to the permit.

Harris’s largest rally to date was in Houston on Friday, when the crowd size was 30,000 people.

That rally included Beyonce and Willie Nelson, which added to the draw.

Similarly, the speech at the Ellipse could include appearances from celebrities and could bring out a large crowd considering Washington, D.C., neighboring Maryland and northern Virginia are all areas where Harris has wide support.

Harris to invoke Jan. 6, Trump contesting election results

Harris’s decision to use the Ellipse is twofold, according to the campaign official, one, because it is within view of the White House and two, because it is the site of Trump’s Jan. 6 speech.

The vice president will likely warn that history may repeat itself.

Trump has not committed to accepting the 2024 election results outright - only if he deems them “free and fair,” similar to sentiments he declared just before the 2020 election that led to his contesting the results.

The vice president will likely warn in her remarks that Trump could declare a victory prematurely, like he did in 2020 before a winner was projected, or refuse to accept the results of the election, which is what led to supporters storming the Capitol on Jan. 6.

“Of course. This is a person, Donald Trump, who tried to undo … a free and fair election, who still denies the will of the people,” Harris told NBC last week. “The American people… are being presented with a very, very serious decision about what will be the future of our country.”

A CNN/SSRS poll released Monday found that 69 percent of registered voters nationally think Trump would not accept the election results, and 30 percent think he would.

Will she call Trump a fascist?

Despite being asked multiple times, Harris has never outright labeled her political opponent a “fascist.” Harris has agreed in two separate interviews on the notion that Trump’s campaign runs on "fascism" and agreed with John Kelly’s assessment that Trump is a “fascist” but she’s never used the word herself.

The conversation over whether Trump should be labeled as such was sparked last week when Kelly, Trump’s ex-White House chief of staff, said the 45th president “certainly falls into the general definition of fascist” in an interview in The New York Times.

Harris, at the town hall, would not agree when she was asked if she believes Trump is antisemitic, but instead called him “dangerous” and “a danger to the well-being and security of America.”

Harris’s Ellipse remarks could be an opportunity for her to take that one step further. Despite Trump labeling Harris a plethora of personal and offensive names, Republicans suggest her name-calling is too harsh following the two assassination attempts on Trump’s life in recent months.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a joint statement on Friday condemning Harris for saying she believes Trump is a fascist, arguing that it could invite another assassination attempt.

Possible pro-Trump or pro-Palestine protests

Harris has faced pro-Palestine protesters at campaign stops more often than pro-Trump protesters, but she could see both during her speech in Washington given the importance of the location to Jan. 6.

The vice president was interrupted by Gaza demonstrators as recently as during her rally in Houston, Texas on Friday. She responded to yelling by quipping that the protesters are at the wrong venue.

“Just send them to the small rally down the street,” she said to protesters, referring to a rally Trump hosted earlier in Austin. “Some people don’t have a great sense of direction but that’s okay, we’ll show them the way.”

Harris has maintained her pro-Israel stance and stuck to her talking points when pressed last week on what she would say to voters who are thinking about supporting a third-party candidate because of the Biden administration’s handling of the war in Gaza.

“Far too many innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed. It’s unconscionable,” she said, adding that she thinks there is a current opportunity to end the war and bring the hostages held by Hamas home given the recent killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

The Biden administration’s support for Israel throughout the war has led to protests from pro-Palestinian Americans, raising concerns among Democrats about whether anger on the issue will hurt Harris’s support among Arab and Muslim Americans and young voters in critical swing states like Michigan.