In Washington, on the very lawn from which Donald Trump addressed his supporters before they invaded the Capitol, Dawn Bowman waits, full of hope, for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, who is holding a rally Tuesday evening at exactly the same place.
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On January 6, 2021, the Republican billionaire candidate for re-election gave a fiery speech to contest the results of the election lost to Joe Biden, in front of his unleashed supporters who then attacked the symbol of American democracy.
“I couldn’t believe what I saw,” recalls Dawn Bowman who came from Maryland to listen to the Democratic vice-president’s speech. “I had tears in my eyes. I cried,” she confided to AFP.
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On this Ellipse esplanade located a stone’s throw from the White House, the police estimate that more than 50,000 people will flock to listen to Kamala Harris, former prosecutor, deliver an “indictment” supposed to turn the page on “division” .
Dawn Bowman is there to draw a line, to see a candidate “bearing hope, speaking of moving forward, of progress, of love and not hatred”.
“It completely boggles my mind how people can forget and see beyond what he did,” adds the 52-year-old educator, referring to Republicans voting for Donald Trump.
“Historical”
Nylah Mitchell was only 17 years old on January 6, 2021. She defines her presence on the scene today as “historic.”
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“I watched all this on television. It was crazy, I was quite shocked,” explains the student. “But most importantly, at my young age, I think it’s important for me to be there.”
After voting during the day, she expects a lot from the Democratic vice-president’s speech. She wants to hear him defend “the need to change, to hope and to build a new America” as well as an “electric shock compared to what we saw four years ago”.
“Shame”
Behind the tall black barriers around the gathering place, Peter Fernandez watches the security teams set up. He remembers being “ashamed” four years ago when he saw the assault on the Capitol on television.
At first, “I told myself that it was nothing and that I shouldn’t worry,” says this 66-year-old retiree.
Then “as events unfolded, it was incredible (…) We are supposed to have a safe country,” he denounces.
AFP
A few days before the November 5 election, Donald Trump continues to assert that the only possibility for him to lose would be if the camp of his opponent, Democrat Kamala Harris, rigged the results of the election.
He refused several times to say that he would accept the outcome of the vote in the event of defeat.
But Peter Fernandez does not believe that similar events could take place again.
“We’re not going back,” he said. “I think those who participated felt abandoned by Donald Trump … so I don’t think he will be followed in as violent a way as on January 6 (2021).”
Kristen Ehlman wants to believe that the simple fact that a crowd finds itself there “where hatred has poisoned the ground” will allow “to put an end to this violence”
