With precious few days remaining between now and the election, I want to encourage you to believe. We have heard the closing arguments from both candidates. They have shared with us their contrasting visions for this country, and it’s clear that Kamala Harris believes in this country and the people in it, while Donald Trump clearly does not. I’m here to tell you, it’s okay to believe in the hopeful and joyous message of the Vice-President’s campaign, because that is a window into how she views this county. Likewise, it’s also okay to believe the hateful rhetoric of the Trump Campaign. He truly views this wonderful nation as broken, and he has to, as it’s the only way he can win this election. It falls on us, the voters, to chart the path forward for this country, and I believe it’s time to steer away from hate and division, and towards hope and healing.
As Kamala Harris delivered her closing remarks from The Ellipse, I was struck by the contrast in the direction of the two campaigns in the closing weeks. While the Harris campaign has leaned more heavily into messaging portraying Trump as a threat to our constitutional democracy, they have maintained an overall optimistic and forward-looking tone. Trump, on the other hand, has gone full doom and gloom, portraying this country and its citizens in increasingly offensive ways. Kamala Harris seems to shine brightest when she is discussing her personal story, as it both humanizes her, and provides a background that explains her policy positions. When she is in that moment, she is so genuine that it really connects with voters, they correctly believe that she cares about them and their needs.
Compare that with the tone of the rally at Madison Square Garden, organized by the Trump Campaign. In this setting, the former President was presented as a conquering hero, returning home, despite the fact that he is almost uniformly reviled in Manhattan, and was routed in the borough 84.5% to 14.5% in 2020. Think about that, he’s a net minus-70 with the people who know him best. The Trump Rally has drawn comparisons in the media to a 1939 event at MSG for the German American Bund, and the juxtaposition is fair, given that the rhetoric was no less inflammatory. Puerto Rico was called a floating pile of garbage by an alleged comedian, whose name I won’t dignify by repeating. He also talked about carving watermelons for Halloween with his black friend. Given that Trump has seen some gains with Latino and Black voters, these comments would seem, unhelpful to his cause, to put it generously. But, it doesn’t matter that comments like these could be politically expedient for Democrats. What matters is that they are completely unacceptable by any standard of decency, but acceptable, if not encouraged, in Trump’s orbit.
These comments are offensive enough prima facie, but they show that beyond, shock value, this is at the core of what Trump and those around him believe. Do we believe that Trump does, or even can, distinguish between Puerto Rico and his other favorite target Venezuela? Given that he seems to think Haitians are from Venezuela, the bet here is no. The reality is he and his followers have a similarly dim view of all Latino people, regardless of country of origin. And, If a joke about carving watermelons isn’t enough to give Black voters pause, what about the former President’s own words, when he inquired whether the National Guard couldn’t just shoot BLM protestors in the leg? While Trump tries to claim he’s done more for the Black population than any president since Lincoln, the reality is that he hasn’t done one thing to advance the fight for racial justice. Similar to those people who gathered in 1939 for German American Bund Rally, those who gathered at MSG this year, to show their adoration for Trump, saw no need to veil their racism, sexism and xenophobia. When Trump and his sycophants show you, through their words and actions, that they are terrified of a world that is more diverse, believe them, and consider what that means for policy.
Thankfully, in what can only be called a moment of instant karma, as Trump’s followers were hearing those insulting remarks about Puerto Rico, Kamala Harris was at a campaign stop, where her message was focused on how her policies will benefit Puerto Rico. She discussed how the Island has been left behind for too long, which is a fairly stark contrast to Trump lobbing paper towels at hurricane victims during a visit there. So, if it appears that one of these candidates genuinely cares about the American people, and one only performatively does, you can believe that.
When Kamala Harris tells voters that she’ll deliver tax cuts to working people and the middle class, ban price gouging, limit drug prices, subsidize first time home buyers, lower the cost of housing and child care, she’s doing so because of her lived experience. The path from McDonalds to the White House has not only granted her wisdom, but a deep desire to assure that all Americans have the opportunities that were afforded to her along her journey. Donald Trump, meanwhile, grew up in a wealthy, white, insulated bubble, and that, combined with his narcissism and sociopathy, renders him unable to care about most Americans. Those worldviews shaped their beliefs and help explain why Kamala Harris views this country as already great and getting better, and Trump views the country as being, “like a garbage can for the world”.
So, it is for us, the voters, to decide which view of the country and of the future we believe in. Do we believe that this country is a garbage can, that can only be saved by a megalomaniac acting out his pathologies, or do we believe that we live in the greatest country in the world, with an opportunity to make it even better? I think when it’s put in terms like that, the choice for Kamala Harris is abundantly clear. We have only a few days left until the election, and I believe that we will set this country on the right course. All we can do now is turn that belief into action, so please, get out and vote if you haven’t already.
And, if you know someone who’s thinking about sitting this one out, share your belief with them, it’s not too late to make a difference.
