In a rare appearance after losing the November presidential election, former vice president and potential governor candidate Kamala Harris on Thursday condemned a rollback of fundamental rights under President Trump, urging people to prioritize self-care and pledged to maintain the fight to protect constitutional protection.
“We can’t get out there and fight without caring for ourselves and each other,” she told the national conference of black women, including business owners and politicians at the Oceanfront Resort in Dana Point. “See you there. I won’t go anywhere.”
Harris is expected to decide by the end of the summer whether California governor will take part in the 2026 race to replace Gavin Newsom’s government. As she moves on, it will shake up a contest with already well-known Democratic candidates.
Although she had not worked on the governor’s race during her eight-minute remarks, Harris suggested that she planned to exist politically and aggressively after her defeat to Trump in November.
She has largely avoided political emergence since losing the 2024 election. She met with firefighters and volunteers in Altadena hours after attending Trump’s inauguration, and was exposed to Trump administration policies when she received an award from the NAACP in February.
Harris’s appearance on Thursday was a surprise to the roughly 100 women attending a gathering defined by major women. As she entered the room they leapt over their legs, pertussis coughing, cheering, swinging napkins in the air. Among the attendees was former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. He was reportedly running for the governor of Georgia and was vetted in 2020 as Joe Biden’s running buddy.
Before Harris appeared at the gathering, the group leader had the woman talk about meaningful moments during a lunchtime conversation. The woman sitting next to Lancebottoms said Georgian was running for governor and urged fellow attendees to fundraiser for her. As the crowd rose with a standing ovation, the bottom of the Lance overcomes the emotions and gains its head.
After some time, Harris first attended one of the group’s events in 2016, noting that he is now in a much different location. Before she became vice president, Harris served as San Francisco District Attorney and California Attorney General, and was elected to the US Senate in 2016.
“Our commitment to lifting each other, lifting our communities, lifting our nation has not changed,” Harris said. “Now, what has changed since 2016: We are in the midst of seeing progress rewind.
Harris didn’t mention Trump by name, but she clearly mentioned rollbacks of protection for ethnic minorities, women and the LGBTQ+ community. She also said people and organizations remain silent with the administration as her husband’s law firm signed a contract with the Trump administration earlier this week and agreed to comply with the president’s policies.
“There’s a sense of fear that’s entrenched in our country, and I understand that,” Harris said. “These are things we have witnessed every day in our country over the last few months and creates a sense of fear, of course.
In her most pointed public remarks since the election, she hinted that such concerns were the foundation of the 2024 presidential election.
“I’m not here, I’m saying, ‘I said,'” she said. “I swore I wasn’t going to say that.”
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