WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris seems to be out-Trumping Donald Trump, a former Republican lawmaker said Tuesday.
Tens of thousands of Harris supporters came out to hear her Tuesday night address at the Ellipse, the exact spot where the former president famously held his "Stop the Steal" rally before supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
It’s a brilliant strategy, according to former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) who served as a senior adviser on the Jan. 6 select committee.
“I think this is a master stroke,” Riggleman told Raw Story at the rally. “I think having this on the Ellipse right before the election, I think, it's the way to go.”
Harris’ Ellipse event comes on the heels of Trump’s racist, sexist and conspiracy-tinged Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, which Riggleman said was perfect timing.
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“The Madison Square Garden rally gave her the opportunity to provide a positive vision for America, where he tried to destroy America,” Riggleman said. “Madison Square Garden was the biggest October surprise self-own in political history.”
The former congressman said the Republican Party —a party he loves but felt forced to leave — is in shambles under Trump.
“It's a party for the unserious. I think that's the shame of it all, is that we have real issues globally, and these individuals are not prepared to deal with what America needs to deal with,” Riggleman said. “You gotta support sanity and rationality. Right now, the GOP is so infested with nativism and bad behavior, there's no way, I think, traditional center-right individuals would want to be a part of the party.”
While critics have said Harris should be focused on the economy and immigration in the waning days of this election, Riggleman disagreed. Harris made the right choice by choosing the Ellipse, he said, if she wanted to win over former Republicans like him.
“This is why this is so important, I think we do have to run on democracy. The most important thing for the United States of America is our democratic institutions,” Riggleman said. “Especially for former Republicans, independents, people that are center-right or center-left — this is still, I think, the main focus of this election. It's not to have a repeat of Jan. 6.”
As for crowd size? Riggleman said there’s no competition.
“The interesting part, I think this might be bigger than the Jan. 6 speech on the Ellipse,” Riggleman said as throngs of people strolled into the rally on the National Mall.