The 2 final arguments show a clear choice between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris

NEW YORK – In the shadow of the White House, seven days before the final votes are cast in the 2024 election, Kamala Harris he promised to put country above party and warned that Donald Trump is obsessed with revenge and self-interest.

Inside less than 48 hours earlier Madison Square GardenTrump called his Democratic opponent “a train wreck that destroyed everything in its path.” His allies on stage called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” and said Harris, who would be the first female president, began her career as a prostitute.

Two nights and 200 miles apart, the final arguments of the duel starkly outlined the choices American voters will face on November 5 as they consider two very different visions of leadership and America’s future.

Trump’s raucous rally, marked by vulgar and racial slurs, highlighted the uglier elements of his coalition. But other passages highlighted the former businessman’s appeal as someone vowing to fix the economy and borders, and as a political outsider willing to defy convention despite the risks.

Harris, vice president for the past four years, chose a more formal venue – a grassy ellipse near the White House – to emphasize the gravity of this moment in American history and the threat Trump poses to democracy. She met with a large audience the same place where Trump addressed thousands of his loyalists on January 6, 2021, before they stormed the US Capitol on one of the darkest days of modern history.

But more than just reminding voters of the danger Trump poses to American democracy, Harris’s remarks were intended to highlight her opponent’s track record of prioritizing her own interests over those of the nation.

“Donald Trump has spent a decade trying to keep Americans divided and afraid of each other. That’s what he is. But America, I am here tonight to say: This is not who we are,” Harris said. “I pledge to be the president of all Americans – to always put country before party and self.”

Senior adviser Jen O’Malley Dillon noted that Harris’ closing statement is intended to reach a narrow group of undecided voters; there are many moderate Republicans among them.

“We know there are still many voters who are still trying to decide who to support and whether to vote at all,” O’Malley Dillon said. “And this race is extremely close. We talk about it as a race with a margin for error. We know it will be closed in the last week.”

Trump’s team is more focused on galvanizing its partisan base and reaching out to the few voters across the political spectrum who are frustrated with the direction of the country and looking for change.

Still, Trump has framed his comments in recent days with a simple question that crosses political boundaries and asks voters whether they are better off now than they were four years ago, at the end of his first term. Although the nation was still facing a pandemic when Trump left office, polls show that a majority of voters are dissatisfied with the direction of the country today.

Trump announced the largest deportation operation in U.S. history and the imposition of sweeping tariffs to generate revenue and boost American manufacturing.

Always defying criticism even from some Republicans, Trump called his Madison Square Garden event a “love festival” and did not address comments from pro-Trump comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” Before Trump took the stage, Hinchcliffe also made demeaning jokes about Black people, other Latinos, Palestinians and Jews on his show.

“No one has ever known love like this,” Trump said of the hours-long Sunday event attended by his family members and high-level surrogates and supporters, including billionaire Elon Musk, television psychologist “Dr. Phil” McGraw and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. “It was truly love for our country.”

On Tuesday, the former GOP president also offered a dark assessment of Harris’ leadership. He said it had “destroyed” the nation’s borders, “decimated the middle class,” brought “bloodshed and misery” to major cities and “unleashed war and chaos around the world.”

“No person who has caused so much destruction and death at home and abroad should ever be allowed to serve as president of the United States,” Trump told dozens of supporters gathered at his Florida estate.