Harris Warns of Dangers of Another Trump Presidency in Speech at Jan. 6 Site

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks on The Ellipse just south of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 29, 2024. (AFP)
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks on The Ellipse just south of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 29, 2024. (AFP)
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Harris Warns of Dangers of Another Trump Presidency in Speech at Jan. 6 Site

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks on The Ellipse just south of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 29, 2024. (AFP)
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks on The Ellipse just south of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 29, 2024. (AFP)

Democrat Kamala Harris warned tens of thousands of people gathered in Washington at her biggest rally that her Republican opponent Donald Trump was seeking unchecked power as their tightening race for the presidency entered its final week.

Harris spoke on Tuesday evening to an outdoor rally estimated by her campaign to number more than 75,000 people at the spot near the White House where on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump addressed his supporters before they attacked the US Capitol.

"We know who Donald Trump is," Harris said. She said the then-president sent an "armed mob" to the US Capitol to try to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election.

"This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance and out for unchecked power," Harris said during what her campaign called her closing argument before a tightly contested Nov. 5 election.

More than 53 million Americans have already voted in the election, according to Election Hub at the University of Florida, in a battle that will decide who runs the world's richest and most powerful country for four years.

Harris was flanked by American flags on stage and surrounded by blue and white banners that said "FREEDOM" with a well-lit White House behind her.

The crowd included older people and college students, people from overseas, from New York and from nearby Virginia. Many women came in groups with other female friends.

"It’s important that we do not go back to the horrible past policies under President Trump," said Saul Schwartz, a former federal worker from Alexandria, Virginia.

"She is everything that I always wanted in a president. She is joyous. She is real, she is powerful. And she is a woman," said Danielle Hoffmann from Staten Island, New York. "It's time for you guys... to take a backseat because we're driving right now," she said, addressing men in general. Her husband, she noted, is a Trump supporter.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Tuesday showed that Harris' lead had eroded to just 44% to 43% among registered voters.

Harris has led Trump in every Reuters/Ipsos poll since she entered the race in July, but her advantage has steadily shrunk since late September.

Trump and his allies have sought to play down the violence of Jan. 6.

Thousands of his supporters stormed the Capitol, sending lawmakers fleeing for their lives after Trump's address on the Ellipse, where as president in 2021 he told the crowd to "fight like hell" to prevent Congress from ratifying his loss.

Four people died in the ensuing riot at the Capitol, and one police officer who defended the Capitol died the following day. Trump has said that if reelected, he would pardon the more than 1,500 participants who have been charged with crimes.

"We have to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms," Harris told the Washington crowd on Tuesday and urged Americans to put divisions behind them.

TRUMP SAYS NEW YORK RALLY 'AN ABSOLUTE LOVEFEST'

In Florida earlier in the day, Trump sought to move on from the racist and other vulgar remarks made by allies at his New York rally on Sunday.

Trump did not comment on the remarks made by speakers at the Sunday event where comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage" and disparaged Black Americans, Jewish people, Palestinians and Latinos.

Trump's campaign had said previously that the comments about Puerto Rico did not reflect the former president's views, but Trump on Tuesday called the New York event "an absolute lovefest" and said he was honored to be involved.

President Joe Biden drew ire from Trump's campaign for remarks he made about the Sunday rally during a fundraising call on Tuesday.

According to a transcript posted by a White House spokesperson on X, Biden said: "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter's - his - his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it's un-American."

Several news organizations cited the same quote but without the apostrophe.

Biden later posted on X, the social media site: "Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump's supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage — which is the only word I can think of to describe it. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That's all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don't reflect who we are as a nation."

COURTING HISPANIC VOTERS

As Harris spoke in Washington, Trump visited a heavily Hispanic city in Pennsylvania, two days after Hinchcliffe's comments about Puerto Rico drew outrage at the New York rally.

The US Census Bureau says Puerto Ricans are the largest Hispanic group in Pennsylvania, a state that holds the highest number of Electoral College votes of the seven battleground states expected to decide the election.

"I’d like to begin with a very, very simple question: Are you better off now than you were four years ago? I’m here today with a message of hope for all Americans," Trump said.

Harris, who would be the first female president, and Trump, seeking a return to office after his 2017-21 term, diverge on support for Ukraine and NATO, abortion rights, taxes, basic democratic principles and tariffs that could trigger trade wars.

On tariffs, Trump on Tuesday explicitly mentioned the European Union. "They're brutal," he said in Pennsylvania. "They sell millions and millions of cars in the United States. No, no, no, they are going to have to pay a big price."



Taiwan Shuts Down as Strong Typhoon Kong-Rey Hits, One Dead

This Himawari satellite handout image from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA/NESDIS) and Colorado State University-CIRA (CSU/CIRA) taken and released on October 31, 2024 shows typhoon Kong-rey developing over the Pacific as it approaches Taiwan (center L). (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
This Himawari satellite handout image from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA/NESDIS) and Colorado State University-CIRA (CSU/CIRA) taken and released on October 31, 2024 shows typhoon Kong-rey developing over the Pacific as it approaches Taiwan (center L). (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
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Taiwan Shuts Down as Strong Typhoon Kong-Rey Hits, One Dead

This Himawari satellite handout image from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA/NESDIS) and Colorado State University-CIRA (CSU/CIRA) taken and released on October 31, 2024 shows typhoon Kong-rey developing over the Pacific as it approaches Taiwan (center L). (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
This Himawari satellite handout image from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA/NESDIS) and Colorado State University-CIRA (CSU/CIRA) taken and released on October 31, 2024 shows typhoon Kong-rey developing over the Pacific as it approaches Taiwan (center L). (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)

A strong Typhoon Kong-rey made landfall on Taiwan's east coast on Thursday, the largest storm by size to hit the island in nearly 30 years, closing financial markets, causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled and reducing rail services.
The typhoon knocked out power to nearly half a million households, the government said.
The storm hit the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast county of Taitung, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration, with strong winds and torrential rain affecting almost all the island.
The fire department reported one person had died when their truck hit a fallen tree in central Taiwan.
At one point a super typhoon, Kong-rey slightly weakened overnight but remained powerful as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane packing gusts of more than 250 kph (155 mph), according to Tropical Storm Risk.
Taiwan's weather administration put the typhoon's size at the biggest to hit the island since 1996.
"I hope that everyone in the country will co-operate in avoiding disaster and refraining from engaging in dangerous behaviour such as wave watching during the typhoon," President Lai Ching-te wrote on his Facebook page.
Administration forecaster Gene Huang said after hitting the east coast it would head towards the Taiwan Strait as a much weakened storm and urged people across the island to stay at home due to the danger of high winds.
Environmental officials were working on Thursday to prevent oil leaking from a Chinese cargo ship beached against rocks on Taiwan's northern coast after losing power in turbulent weather.
Warnings for destructive winds of more than 160 kph (100 mph) were issued in Taitung, whose outlying Lanyu island recorded gusts above 260 kph (162 mph) before some of the wind-barometers there went offline.
"It was terrifying last night. Many people on the island didn't sleep, worrying about something happening to their house," Sinan Rapongan, a government official on Lanyu, also known as Orchid Island, told Reuters.
Some roofs had been damaged and more than 1,300 homes had lost power but so far no injuries had been reported, she added.
Parts of eastern Taiwan recorded one meter (3.3 feet) of rainfall since the typhoon began approaching on Wednesday.
The defense ministry has put 36,000 troops on standby to help with rescue efforts, while almost 10,000 people have been evacuated from high risk areas ahead of time, the government said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest contract chipmaker and major supplier to companies like Apple and Nvidia, said it has activated routine typhoon alert preparation procedures at all its factories and construction sites.
"We do not expect significant impact to our operations," it said in an emailed statement.
Taiwan's transport ministry said 314 international flights had been cancelled, along with all domestic flights.
Taiwan's high speed railway, which connects major cities on its populated western plains, continued to operate with a much reduced service.
Kong-rey is forecast to graze China along the coast of Fujian province on Friday morning. China's financial hub Shanghai is bracing for potentially the worst rains in more than 40 years.
Subtropical Taiwan is frequently hit by typhoons. The last one, Typhoon Krathon, killed four people earlier this month as it passed through the south of the island.