Harris warns of dangers of another Trump presidency at Jan 6 speech site

Washington: Democrat Kamala Harris told tens of thousands of people gathered in Washington on Tuesday that her Republican opponent Donald Trump sought unchecked power as president as the campaign for the White House entered a final week.

Harris spoke to an outdoor rally estimated by her campaign to number more than 75,000 people at the site 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, adding the former president "sent an armed mob" to the US Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

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

A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Tuesday showed that Harris' lead had eroded to just 44 per cent to 43 per cent 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 and chanting "Hang Mike Pence" the vice president, after Trump's address on the Ellipse, where as president he told the crowd to "fight like hell" to prevent Pence and 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.

Earlier in Florida, Republican former President Trump's White House campaign tried to move on from racist and other vulgar remarks made by speakers at his rally in New York City on Sunday. Trump defended called the event "an absolute lovefest."

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

Though his campaign has said the comments about Puerto Rico did not reflect the former president's views, Trump called the event a lovefest. "And it was my honor to be involved," he said.

Courting Hispanic voters

Some 51 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, 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, tariffs that could trigger trade wars, abortion rights, taxes and basic democratic principles.

The candidates are neck and neck in the seven battleground states that will decide the election.

Trump has said Harris would be too dangerous to serve as president, pointing to foreign wars and high levels of immigration during her tenure as vice president.

He said she had waged a campaign of destruction. "But really more than anything else it's a campaign of hate," he said.

Both candidates are seeking to cement voters' opinions in the final days of a historically close election.

Trump aims to capitalize on voters' unhappiness with rising prices and immigration, while Harris has emphasized abortion rights and has described Trump as an aspiring dictator who would undermine US democracy.

Trump was later visiting a heavily Hispanic city in Pennsylvania, two days after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe's comments about Puerto Rico drew outrage at the New York rally.

Puerto Ricans are the largest Hispanic group in Pennsylvania, the most crucial battleground state to win as it holds the highest number of Electoral College votes of the septet, according to the Census Bureau.