On Wednesday night (April 30), former Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the 20th anniversary gala for Emerge America in San Francisco, California. In her remarks, she called out President Donald Trump for the first time since he took office in January. “Instead of an administration working to advance our highest ideals, we are witnessing the wholesale abandonment of those ideals,” Harris said during her hour-long remarks addressing the Trump White House.
“Let us not be duped into thinking everything is chaos,” the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate continued. “It may feel like that. But understand: What we are, in fact, witnessing is a high velocity event. Where a vessel is being used for the swift implementation of an agenda that has been decades in the making.” Harris’ words referred to Project 2025. She also called out Trump’s ally Elon Musk’s DOGE (Department of Governmental Efficiency) team to execute 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.”
She also showered praise on those who “inspired” her by showing courage in standing up to the Trump administration, naming Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland who flew to El Salvador to bring focus on the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia who was deported to that nation in error by the administration. Harris also mentioned Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont for their “Fighting Oligarchy” rally series in red states, and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey who broke that chamber’s filibuster record speaking for 25 hours on the floor decrying Trump’s policies. The former California Senator also commended the “the courage of judges to uphold the rule of law in the face of those who would jail them.”
“Things are probably going to get worse before they get better,” Harris added. “But we are ready for it.” The speech left many observers noting that it sounded like she was preparing to potentially run for president again in 2028 or put her name in consideration to run for governor of California next year. Her former campaign staffer Victor Shi applauded her in a post on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “Oh, Kamala Harris is so back, ending her speech with: ‘This country is ours. It doesn’t belong to whoever is in the White House. It belongs to you. It belongs to us. It belongs to We the People.’”
