Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver a “closing argument” speech on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., at the site where former President Donald Trump spoke shortly before the Jan. 6 riot, a senior campaign official said.
Harris will argue that it is time to turn the page on Trump and choose a new path forward, the official said. The speech will contrast what a Harris era would want compared to another Trump presidency.
The event at the Ellipse, outside the White House, takes place exactly one week before Election Day.
Sources had told NBC News earlier in the day that Harris’ campaign had planned an address on the National Mall and had applied for a permit for the location.
NBC News obtained the permit application from the National Park Service, which showed the Harris campaign amended the request this week to specifically ask for space on the Ellipse.
That’s where Trump spoke to his supporters on January 6, 2021, when he disputed the election results, which he falsely claimed were “rigged” against him. During his speech, he told them he would march with them to the Capitol to pressure Congress and his own vice president not to certify the results.
“We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and count only those electors who have been legally designated,” Trump told the crowd, repeatedly urging them to “fight.”
“[Y]You will never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong,” he said at the time.
He has since called the date a “day of love” because of the large crowds he drew to the Ellipse, despite the subsequent violence at the Capitol, which left more than 140 police officers injured.
Harris’ campaign official said the campaign plans to contrast Trump’s worst moment in office with what the official called Harris’ optimistic view of the future.
The rally permit estimates the event will draw 7,750 people. It is not specified who is speaking.
The Ellipse is located between the South Lawn of the White House and the National Mall.
Both Harris and Trump have crisscrossed battleground states in the weeks leading up to Election Day, but this would be one of her biggest events in the capital.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
