WASHINGTON — More than 20,000 people are expected to attend an event for Vice President Kamala Harris at The Ellipse one week before election day.
On Monday, crews were hard at work getting ready for the event, which will start at 7:15 p.m. but will be open to the public at 3 p.m.
One of the many spectators watching the set up was New Zealander Philip Macalister.
“I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’” he asked. “Someone told me it’s for the Vice President’s speech, I think I’ll stick around to see it.”
According to a permit for the 'First Amendment Political Speech' event, as many as 20,000 attendees expected, the permit also plans for 250 staff, organizers, and volunteers.
The location will feature Harris giving a national speech with the White House in the background and the memory of an infamous D.C. day in the back of the public’s mind.
“The Ellipse is where Jan. 6 began,” Jacob Long a Democratic strategist explained. “Where Donald Trump refused to accept the will of the people and attempted to overturn the results of a free and fair election.”
Long said that Harris is leaning into her previous life as prosecutor, dubbing this speech her “Closing Argument.” In the same way an attorney sums up their case in their final address to the court, Harris will attempt to sum up her pitch to America.
“[Harris] will lay out the evidence of why Trump is not worthy of a second term and why she is the candidate who is most experienced and best positioned to lead America forward,” Long said.
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“It is about getting people to show up and vote and those who were on the fence,” George Washington University political expert Casey Burgat said.
Back in front of the White House Ellipse, Philip Macalister said its got his attention.
“I think when I get back to my hotel I'll be doing a bit of Googling and see if I can come along,” he smiled. “It’ll be fascinating to see it and being here while with the election going on is fascinating experience.”