It’s been a few months since former Vice President Kamala Harris has been in the spotlight to discuss politics, but she recently returned and said a few things about the current administration.
“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,” Harris said during the Democratic Women’s Group Gala.
During her 16-minute speech, Harris criticized Trump for turning his back on America and reversing the progress society has made. “And I’ll leave it to others to give a full accounting of what has happened so far. But I will say this: instead of an administration working to advance America’s highest ideals, we are witnessing the wholesale abandonment of those ideals.”
Trump has thrown the economy into a crisis as he continues his tariff wars with countries, imposing a universal 10 percent tariff on all countries and a 145 percent tariff on China as both world powers continue their battle of egos. “Some people are describing what’s been happening in recent months as absolute chaos,” Harris said. “And, of course, I understand why. It’s certainly true that those tariffs, as I predicted, are inviting a recession.” She called it the “greatest man-made economic crisis in modern presidential history.”
Harris also acknowledges that society needs to stand against the regression and the fearmongering that is happening. “We all know that President Trump and his administration and their allies are counting on the notion that fear can be contagious. 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’re overlooking—what they have overlooked— is that fear isn’t the only contagious thing. Courage is contagious.”
Harris said while some use fear to divide and conquer, the animals demonstrated the power of standing together. “In the face of a crisis, the lesson is, don’t scatter. The instinct has to be to immediately find and connect and to know that the circle will be strong,” Harris said. “I am not here tonight to offer all the answers, but I am here to say this: You are not alone, and we are all together. And straight talk, things are going to get worse before they get better. But we are ready for it. We are not going to scatter. We are going to stand together.”
Harris is still undecided on her return to politics or even the spotlight full-time, but seeing the former vice president speak out and continue her fight against Trump is encouraging for the Democratic party and society.
