Kamala Harris to deliver a 'closing argument speech' on the Ellipse next week

Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver a "closing argument" speech on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., next week, exactly one week before the presidential election, senior campaign officials said.

The location is the same place former President Donald Trump gave his infamous speech on January 6, 2021, before a crowd of his supporters descended on the Capitol. The Ellipse is a 52-acre park outside the South Lawn of the White House.

The vice president's advisors said the speech will contrast Trump's January 6 speech, which a campaign official described as Trump's worst moment in office, with Harris's "optimistic vision" for the future, the campaign officials told NBC News. She will also encourage the nation to "turn the page on Trump." 

The speech is expected to draw a crowd of approximately 7,750 people, according to a permit application that was filed with the National Park Service. The program will also include four to five speakers, and elected officials, according to CNN.

Harris's advisers said the vice president will approach the address as a prosecutor, who is giving her closing statement to a jury of voters. 

The announcement comes after Harris delivered remarks at the Naval Observatory, the vice president's home, in Washington on Wednesday, where she said Trump would "invoke" Adolf Hitler if elected back to the White House.

Her remarks at that location have triggered debate over whether the vice president has violated the Hatch Act, which forbids federal government employees from engaging in political activity while on duty or in their official capacity as a federal employee, or try to sway an election. But vice presidents and presidents are usually exempt from the federal act to a degree, because of the dual nature of their roles as leaders and political figures.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.