NEW YORK — In the shadow of the White House, seven days before the final votes in the 2024 elections, Kamala Harris promised to put country before party and warned that Donald Trump was obsessed with revenge and his own personal interests.

Less than 48 hours ago inside Madison Square GardenTrump called his Democratic opponent a “shipwreck who destroyed everything in his path.” Her allies on stage called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” and said Harris, who would be the first woman to become president, began her career as a prostitute.

Two nights and 200 miles apart, closing arguments described in stark terms the choice American voters will face on November 5 when they weigh two very different visions of America’s leadership and future.

Trump’s raucous rally, marked by crude and racist insults, highlighted the ugliest elements of his coalition. But other passages underscore the former businessman’s appeal as someone committed to repairing the economy and the border, and as a political outsider willing to defy all conventions despite the risks .

Harris, vice president for four years, chose a more formal setting — the grassy Ellipse near the White House — to underscore the gravity of this moment in American history and the threat Trump poses to democracy. She faces a massive audience the same place where Trump addressed thousands of his followers on January 6, 2021, before they stormed the U.S. Capitol in one of the darkest days in modern history.

But more than just reminding voters of the danger Trump poses to American democracy, Harris’ remarks were intended to highlight the fact that her opponent was prioritizing his personal interests over those of the nation.

“Donald Trump spent a decade trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other. That’s who he is. But America, I’m here tonight to say: That’s not who we are,” Harris said. “I am committed to being a president for all Americans – to always putting country above party and above self.”

Senior advisor Jen O’Malley Dillon noted that Harris’ final argument is designed to reach the narrow slice of undecided voters; many moderate Republicans are among them.

“We know there are still many voters who are still trying to decide who to support — or whether to vote,” O’Malley Dillon said. “And this race is extremely close. We talk about it as a race for the margin of error. We know this is going to be closed during this last week.

Trump’s team is working harder to energize his partisan base and reach infrequent voters across the political spectrum who are frustrated with the direction the country is heading and seeking change.

Yet Trump framed his comments in recent days with a simple question that cut across political divides, asking voters whether they are better off today than they were four years ago, like end of his first term. While the country was still in the grip of the pandemic when Trump left office, polls indicate that most voters are unhappy with the direction the country is heading today.

Trump has pledged to stage the largest deportation operation in U.S. history and impose sweeping tariffs to raise revenue and boost U.S. manufacturing.

Still defying criticism from some Republicans, Trump on Tuesday called his event at Madison Square Garden a “love fest” and did not respond to comments from pro-Trump comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico a ” floating island of garbage. Hinchcliffe also made demeaning jokes about black people, other Latinos, Palestinians and Jews before Trump took the stage.

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

The former Republican president also offered a grim assessment of Harris’ leadership on Tuesday. He said it had “erased” the nation’s borders, “decimated the middle class”, brought “blood and misery” to major cities and “unleashed war and chaos all over the world”.

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