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Kamala Harris criticized Donald Trump in a speech in San Francisco last night, noting that his administration has perpetuated a “wholesale abandonment” of America’s highest ideals.
Speaking at the 20th anniversary gala for Emerge America, an organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for office, Harris took aim at the president’s agenda. During the 15-minute speech, Harris reflected on the fear and anxiety being caused by Trump’s tactics and praised those who have been standing up against them.
“They are counting on the notion that if they can make some people afraid, it will have a chilling effect on others,” she said. “But what they have overlooked is that fear is not the only thing that’s contagious. Courage is contagious. The courage of Americans who are banding together against the greatest man-made economic crisis in modern presidential history.”
Harris called Trump’s tariffs “reckless” and said they hurt workers and families, as well as American businesses. She added that these tariffs “as I predicted, are clearly inviting a recession.”
During the speech, Harris noted that the Republicans aren’t just creating “absolute chaos.” Instead, she said the administration is following a calculated plan.
“What we are in fact witnessing is a high-velocity event,” she said. “Where a vessel is being used for the swift implementation of an agenda that has been decades in the making. An agenda to slash public education. An agenda to shrink government and then privatize its services. All while giving tax breaks to the wealthiest among us. By the way, an agenda that is not lowering costs. Not making life more affordable. And not what they promised.”
She continued, “It’s an agenda, a narrow, self-serving vision of America where they punish truth tellers, favor loyalists, cash in on their power, and leave everyone else to fend for themselves. All while abandoning allies and retreating from the world.”
Harris added that we are currently experiencing is “exactly what they envisioned for America.” She said there is a risk of a constitutional crisis if the courts and Congress fail to stand up to the president.
“That is a crisis that will eventually impact everyone,” she said. “Because it would mean that the rules that protect our fundamental rights and freedoms, that ensure each of us has a say in how our government works, will no longer matter.”
The former vice president warned that if that does happen “the one check, the one balance, the one power that must not fail is the voice of the people.”
Elsewhere during her speech, Harris praised Democrats who have been “speaking with moral clarity” about Trump’s action. She called out Cory Booker, Chris Van Hollen, Chris Murphy, Bernie Sanders, Jasmine Crockett, Maxwell Frost, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez by name, thanking them for their efforts.
Harris has kept a low profile since losing the presidential election to Trump last year. Last night’s speech represented her longest remarks since she left office in January. It has been speculated that Harris could run for office again, including for governor of California, however she did not address her future during the speech. She closed the evening by acknowledging, “Things are probably going to get worse before they get better. But we are ready for it.”
