A conservative New York Times columnist outlined how he thinks Vice President Kamala Harris should close out her campaign in an opinion column published on Tuesday, laying out a hypothetical speech she could give as her "closing argument" to put former President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement to bed once and for all.
Bret Stephens, while frequently disagreeing with Democrats on a wide range of topics, has been a consistent anti-Trump voice from the right for years, often warning the Republican Party that they will be dragged down with Trump.
"Whether you love Donald Trump or loathe him, prefer his policies or mine, you can be sure of one thing: If he wins next month, we will be a bitterly, vocally, emotionally, exhaustingly divided country," Stephens proposed as an opener. "You know this because whatever you thought of his first term, you remember how that division became a part of your daily life. Thanksgiving dinners you stopped going to — because of Trump. Friends and neighbors you stopped speaking to — because of Trump. Topics you wouldn’t broach — because of Trump."
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Stephens called Trump an inescapable "human jackhammer pounding outside your window at 6:30 a.m."
"The noise is incessant. It’s in the ad hominem tweets, the nasty nicknames, the disparagement of anyone who disagrees with him as an idiot, a weakling, an enemy of the people. And let’s be honest: The noise also came from the enraged reaction that Trump provoked, whether on cable TV or the streets of many of our cities," he wrote.
Harris should say Trump "brought out the worst in everyone, not just his most ardent fans but also — yes — his most acerbic critics. In the four years of his presidency, he turned us into a nation of haters. He’ll do it again if you elect him next month," Stephens suggested.
He then proposed for Harris to say that while differences will always exist, "in a healthy democracy, division must ultimately be framed by unity," with Democrats and Republicans still viewing each other as patriots — and that while she herself has adopted some partisan views, she has adapted and learned from that.
"Better that than being stuck, like my opponent, with the worldview he seems to have adopted when he was 6," said Stephens.
Stephens then walked through a laundry list of hot-button issues Harris should vow to steer America right on, from Iranian aggression to the fentanyl epidemic — and conclude with a promise of looking ahead to the future.
"The talent, the passion, the optimism, the capacity, the sense of a shared and greater purpose that united our states and must continue to unite our nation — it’s still there, all around us," Stephens proposed she finish. "With your help, let me bring it to the White House."