Kamala Harris

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You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.

Kamala Devi Harris /ˈkɑːmələ/ (born 20 October 1964) is an American politician and attorney currently serving as the 49th vice president of the United States. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as a US senator for California from 2017 to 2021, and as California's attorney general from 2011 to 2017. Harris took office as vice president concurrent with the inauguration of Joe Biden as president in January 2021. She is the Democrats' nominee for president in 2024.

Quotes

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I say to you my friends, these are not ordinary times. And this will not be an ordinary election. But this is our America.

2003–2018

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  • As unacceptable as this problem is -- I know we can fix it. In San Francisco, we threatened the parents of truants with prosecution, and truancy dropped 32 percent. So, we are putting parents on notice.

2019

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Are you going to worry about how you look and how you sound? No, because the thing that’s most important is that everyone knows what you know, because they need to know what you know.

Winter 2019

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  • Along with Aunt Mary, Aunt Lenore was my mother's closest confidante.
    I also cherish the memory of one of my mother's mentors.
    Howard, a brilliant endocrinologist who had taken her under his wing.
    When I was a girl he gave me a pearl necklace that he'd brought back from a trip to Japan.
    (Pearls have been one of my favorite forms of jewelry ever since!)
  • I’m running to fight for Medicare for All, universal pre-K, debt-free college & more. To guarantee middle-class families a pay increase of up to $500/mo with the largest working-class tax cut in decades — paid for by reversing this Admin’s gifts to big corporations & the top 1%.
  • No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.
Official announcement as candidate in 2020 Presidential election (2019)
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We are here knowing that we are at an inflection point in the history of our world. We are at an inflection point in the history of our nation. We are here because the American Dream and our American democracy are under attack and on the line like never before.
Oakland, California (27 January 2019)
  • We are here knowing that we are at an inflection point in the history of our world. We are at an inflection point in the history of our nation. We are here because the American Dream and our American democracy are under attack and on the line like never before.
    We are here at this moment in time because we must answer a fundamental question: Who are we? Who are we as Americans?
    So, let’s answer that question. To the world. And each other. Right here. And, right now.
    America, we are better than this.
    When we have leaders who lie and bully and attack a free press and undermine our democratic institutions that’s not our America. When white supremacists march and murder in Charlottesville or massacre innocent worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue that’s not our America. When we have children in cages crying for their mothers and fathers, don't you dare call it border security, that’s a human rights abuse and that’s not our America. When we have leaders who attack public schools and vilify public school teachers that’s not our America. When bankers who crashed our economy get bonuses but workers who brought our country back can't even get a raise that’s not our America.
    And when American families are barely living paycheck to paycheck, what is this administration’s response? Their response is to try to take away health care from millions of families. Their response is to give away a trillion dollars to the biggest corporations in this country. And their response is to blame immigrants as the source of all our problems.
    And guys lets understand what is happening here: People in power are trying to convince us that the villain in our American story is each other. But that is not our story. That is not who we are. That’s not our America.
    Our United States of America is not about us versus them. It’s about We the people!
    And in this moment, we must all speak truth about what’s happening.
    Seek truth, speak truth and fight for the truth.
  • I’ll fight for an America where we keep our word and where we honor our promises. Because that’s our America. That’s the America I believe in.
    That’s the America I know we believe in. And as we embark on this campaign, I will tell you this: I am not perfect. Lord knows, I am not perfect. But I will always speak with decency and moral clarity and treat all people with dignity and respect. I will lead with integrity. And I will speak the truth.
    And of course, we know this is not going to be easy guys. It’s not going to be easy.
  • As Robert Kennedy many years ago said, "Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."
    He also said, "I do not lightly dismiss the dangers and the difficulties of challenging an incumbent President, but these are not ordinary times and this is not an ordinary election." He said, "At stake is not simply the leadership of our party and even our country. It is our right to moral leadership of this planet."
    So today I say to you my friends, these are not ordinary times. And this will not be an ordinary election. But this is our America.
    And here’s the thing. It’s up to us.
    It’s up to us. Each and every one of us. So let's remember in this fight we have the power of the people. We can achieve the dreams of our parents and grandparents. We can heal our nation. We can give our children the future they deserve. We can reclaim the American Dream for every single person in our country. We can restore America’s moral leadership on this planet.
    So let’s do this.
    And let’s do it together.
    And let's start now.
    Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

Summer 2019

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Twitter (27 June 2019)
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Health care should be a right for every American, not just a privilege for those who can afford it. Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda couldn’t be more clear. He has separated families. Locked children in cages. Sought to spend billions on his border wall, which is nothing more than a vanity project. That is not reflective of our values and it has to end.
  • There was a little girl in California who was bussed to school. That little girl was me. #DemDebate
  • This election is about you, your hopes, your dreams, your fears, and what wakes you up at 3 a.m. That’s what I care about and what I am fighting for.
  • I want to solve the issues keeping people up at night with what I call the 3AM Agenda. That means giving Americans a raise, paying women equally for the work they do, making housing affordable, and paying our teachers their value.
  • We have a president who believes in science fiction. I believe in science fact. Climate change is real and we're in the midst of a climate crisis. We need a #GreenNewDeal and as president, on day one, America will rejoin the Paris Agreement.
  • Health care should be a right for every American, not just a privilege for those who can afford it. Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda couldn’t be more clear. He has separated families. Locked children in cages. Sought to spend billions on his border wall, which is nothing more than a vanity project. That is not reflective of our values and it has to end. #DemDebate
  • As president, I will immediately reinstate and expand DACA and take executive action to provide Dreamers a path to citizenship. We owe it to Dreamers and their families to act.
  • No parent should have to worry about going broke because their child is sick. That’s why we need Medicare for All. #DemDebate

Autumn 2019

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  • They [people in El Paso] said, 'Do you think Trump is responsible for what happened?' And I said, 'Well, look. Obviously he didn't pull the trigger, but he's certainly been tweeting out the ammunition.
  • The other one's here.

2020

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February 2020

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  • My mother was very intentional about raising my sister, Maya, and me as strong, Black women. She coupled her teachings of civic duty and fearlessness with actions, which included taking us on Thursday nights to Rainbow Sign, a Black cultural center near our home.
  • Instagram, (9 February 2020)
  • There is not a black man I know, be he a relative, a friend, or a co-worker, who has not been the subject of some kind of profiling or discrimination.

April 2020

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  • There are those who enjoy the tradition, and I completely understand why, especially for those who have been historically denied the right to vote — African Americans, women.... So many of them know that people fought and died and bled for our right to vote. We have to start adjusting to new forms that make it easier because the greatest exercise of patriotism, the greatest exercise of the franchise, is to actually vote...
    This is doable. And I think that there are these moments of a crisis that give us the courage and encouragement to try something that actually may be better than how we were doing it before.
    • Kamala Harris’ Plan to Save the Election, by Jamil Smith, Rolling Stone, (16 April 2020)
  • Those of us who take on a role of leadership in public office, the elected role or appointed or however we get here at this moment, is highlighting the significance of holding these offices in the public trust. And that means that the power that one has in these offices must be used in a way that is about the people and serving the people and being in touch with their needs. Lifting them up in terms of their circumstance, lifting people up spiritually, in terms of lifting up people’s spirits, even having some sense of of empathy and understanding about the suffering with some level of concern about one’s responsibility to help alleviate that.

August 2020

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  • Black women and women of color have long been underrepresented in elected office and in November we have an opportunity to change that. Let's get to work.
  • The civil rights struggle is nothing new to Joe. It's why he got into public service. It's why he helped reauthorise the Voting Rights Act and restore unemployment discrimination--and employment discrimination laws. "And today, he takes his place in the ongoing story of America's march toward equality and justice as only--as the only, as the only who has served alongside the first black president and has chosen the first Black woman as his running mate
  • Jacob Blake: shot seven times in the back in broad daylight in front of his three young sons. Seven times, in the back, in broad daylight, in front of his three young sons. As Vice President Biden put it, the shots fired at Mr. Blake pierced the soul of our nation. It's sickening to watch. It's all too familiar. And it must end
    Thankfully, he is alive today. But he is fighting for his life and he shouldn't have to be.

October 2020

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  • On the issue of the economy, I think there couldn’t be a more fundamental difference between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Joe Biden believes you measure the health and the strength of America’s economy based on the health and the strength of the American worker and the American family. On the other hand, you have Donald Trump, who measures the strength of the economy based on how rich people are doing, which is why he passed a tax bill benefiting the top 1% and the biggest corporations of America, leading to a $2 trillion deficit that the American people are going to have to pay for. On day one, Joe Biden will repeal that tax bill. He’ll get rid of it. And what he’ll do with the money is invest it in the American people. …
  • The American people know what I’m talking about. You know. I think about 20-year-olds — you know, we have a 20-year-old, a 20-something-year-old — who are coming out of high school and college right now, and you’re wondering, “Is there going to be a job there for me?” We’re looking at people who are trying to figure out how they’re going to pay rent by the end of the month. Almost half of American renters are worried about whether they’re going to be able to pay rent by the end of the month. This is where the economy is in America right now. And it is because of the catastrophe and the failure of leadership of this administration.

December 2020

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2021

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January 2021

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  • The science behind climate change is not a hoax. The science behind COVID-19 is not partisan. And President-elect Joe Biden and I will not only listen to the science—we will invest in it and the next generation of scientists.

February 2021

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May 2021

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June 2021

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2022

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January 2022

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  • It is time for us to do what we have been doing and that time is every day. Every day it is time for us to agree that there are things and tools that are available to us to slow this thing down. And so right now we know we still have a number of people that, that is in the millions of Americans who have not been vaccinated, and could be vaccinated, and we are urging them to get vaccinated because it will save their life.
  • We have twenty thousand sites where people can go, and I urge people to, you can Google it or go onto any search engine and find out where free testing and the free testing site is available.
  • [I]f you want to figure out how to get across town to some restaurant you heard is great, you usually do Google to figure out where it is
    so that's simply about giving people, right, a mechanism by which they can locate something that they need.

February 2022

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  • Within the context then of the fact that the window is still opening, although, open, although it is absolutely narrowing, but within the context of a diplomatic path still being open, the deterrence effect, we believe, has merit.
    • When asked in Munich whether sanctions against Russia would deter Putin's alleged advancement into Ukraine (20 February 2022)

March 2022

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  • Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine so basically that's wrong.
  • We also recognize just as it has been in the United States, for Jamaica, one of the issues that has been presented as an issue that is economic in the way of its impact has been the pandemic. So to that end, we are announcing today also that we will assist Jamaica in COVID recovery by assisting in terms of the recovery efforts in Jamaica that have been essential to, I believe, what is necessary to strengthen not only the issue of public health but also the economy.

April 2022

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  • So I am here because this is a community in the Mississippi Delta that has a long history of being part of America's history, um, including having the needs that should be met.
    • During a multipart video interview with MSNBC's Joy Reid

May 2022

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“Remarks by Vice President Harris on Mental Health and Wellness” (May 23, 2022)
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“Remarks by Vice President Harris on Mental Health and Wellness”, Whitehouse.gov, (May 23, 2022)

  • I believe that the work that you all do to help the children and families of this community and of our country is truly remarkable work.
    For many of the people who come through the doors of this hospital, they spend time here that is probably one of the most difficult times in their lives.
    And as doctors, as nurses, as staff, you provide life-saving medical care.  And you also offer comfort at a time when it is most needed.  Your compassion, I truly believe, is light in the midst of darkness, often.  And you do so much to take care of your patients in their time of need, which is why I’m here to say we need to do a better job of taking care of you.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic has, of course, brought increased attention to the mental health of workers in our healthcare system.  And we have asked so much of you over the course of these last two-plus years.
    Some of you held the hands of those who were dying on behalf of their loved ones.
    All of you worked around the clock long before we understood how COVID-19 spread or what it did to the body.  And before you were even vaccinated or had protective equipment — the kind you needed — you were still here doing this work around the clock.
    You spent hour after hour, many in a windowless room, unable to speak about how you were feeling or only being able to speak with a small group who truly could understand what you were going through.  But you did it nonetheless.
    So there is an urgent need that we have, I believe, to address all of this and to address, of course, what has resulted: the stress, the burnout, the mental health challenges that you experienced most recently because of the pandemic.
  • [T]his burnout issue existed even before the pandemic.  And I’d like to recognize and thank the unions who are here who have long been a leading voice on this issue.
    And, you know, the term “burnout” was originally coined in the 1970s by a psychologist to describe the mental repercussions he experienced while working in a clinic.
    The choice to dedicate your life to helping people is a noble one, but too often it requires that you sacrifice so much of yourself.
    In 2019, more than half of all healthcare workers reported feeling burnt out.  And that was — again, that was before the pandemic.
    Each of you made enormous sacrifices to save lives under impossible conditions, which is why President Joe Biden and I are fighting to transform how mental health is understood, perceived, and treated for all Americans and, in particular, for our health workers.
    You deserve access to the mental healthcare that you need.  You deserve support and understanding when you are struggling.  And you deserve working conditions that support your mental health.
  • You know, the bottom line is this.  On this issue of mental health, you know, one way to think of it is this: If you knew someone who broke their arm, you would help them.  You would make sure they went to the hospital to get a cast.  And after they came home — well, on their way home, you’d probably open the door for them, you’d help them when they got home to get the support they need to heal through the point that they are feeling pain and then just need to heal.
    We have to do the same when it comes to mental health.  I think for too long our system has failed to understand the significance of this.  I think for too long, when we think about healthcare, we act as though the body just starts from the neck down, instead of understanding we also need to address healthcare from the neck up: mental health.
    So, if you are struggling, please know you are not alone, that you are seen, and that you deserve to receive the help you desire and the help you need.
    The President and I are fighting to expand mental healthcare for all Americans because everyone should have access to the support they need to thrive.

June 2022

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  • So, it’s one thing to say “there should be accountability,” but when we think about and define “accountability” based on bad actors and bad deeds, part of our system of justice tells us that, yes, there should be serious, swift, and severe consequence, but also we must look to those who were harmed and ask, “Are we doing enough to allow them the ability to recover from that harm?”

July 2022

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  • I think that, to be very honest with you, I — I do believe that we should have rightly believed, but we certainly believed that certain issues are just settled. Certain issues are just settled.

2023

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March 2023

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  • What an honor it is to be here in Ghana and on the continent of Africa.

May 2023

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When young children see someone who looks like them running for office, they see themselves and what they can be, unburdened by what has been.

July 2023

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  • We teach our children, not only to tell the truth, but to seek knowledge and truth [...] These extremist so-called leaders should model what we know to be the correct and right approach if we really are invested in the wellbeing of our children. Instead they dare to push propaganda to our children.

October 2023

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  • A terrorist organization, Hamas, slaughtered hundreds of young people at a concert. By most estimates at least fourteen hundred Israelis are dead. Israel, without any question, has a right to defend itself. That being said, it is very important that there be no conflation between Hamas and the Palestinians. The Palestinians deserve equal measures of safety and security, self-determination and dignity, and we have been very clear that the rules of war must be adhered to and that there be humanitarian aid that flows.

2024

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February 2024

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Isolation is not insulation. In fact when America has isolated herself, threats have only grown.

July 2024

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Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.
Remarks after Joe Biden withdraws from the 2024 election (21 July 2024)
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Statement on X/Twitter (21 July 2024) · cited in "Kamala Harris Says She Intends to ‘Earn and Win This Nomination’ After Biden Drops Out of Race", by Adam Chitwood, at The Wrap (21 July 2024) · also cited in "Democrats rush for new strategy as Kamala Harris emerges as favorite", The Guardian (22 July 2024)
  • On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country. His remarkable legacy of accomplishment is unmatched in modern American history, surpassing the legacy of many Presidents who have served two terms in office.
    It is a profound honor to serve as his Vice President, and I am deeply grateful to the President, Dr. Biden, and the entire Biden family. I first came to know President Biden through his son Beau. We were friends from our days working together as Attorneys General of our home states. As we worked together, Beau would tell me stories about his Dad. The kind of father—and the kind of man—he was. And the qualities Beau revered in his father are the same qualities, the same values, I have seen every single day in Joe’s leadership as President: His honesty and integrity. His big heart and commitment to his faith and his family. And his love of our country and the American people.
  • With this selfless and patriotic act, President Biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else.
    I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.
    We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.

August 2024

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Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention (22 August 2024)
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Keynote Address at the Democratic Nation Convention (22 August 2024) · PBS Video
  • The path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected, but I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys.
  • My mother was a brilliant, five-foot-tall brown woman with an accent. And as the eldest child … I saw how the world would sometimes treat her. But my mother never lost her cool. She was tough, courageous, a trailblazer in the fight for women’s health. And she taught Maya and me a lesson that Michelle mentioned the other night. She taught us to never complain about injustice, but do something about it. Do something about it.
  • I believe everyone has a right to safety, to dignity, and to justice.
    As a prosecutor, when I had a case, I charged it not in the name of the victim but in the name of the people for a simple reason: In our system of justice, a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us.
    And I would often explain this to console survivors of crime, to remind them no one should be made to fight alone. We are all in this together.
    And every day in the courtroom, I stood proudly before a judge and I said five words: “Kamala Harris, for the people.”
  • My entire career, I’ve only had one client: the people.
    And so, on behalf of the people; on behalf of every American, regardless of party, race, gender, or the language your grandmother speaks; on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey; on behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with — people who work hard, chase their dreams, and look out for one another; on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America.
  • Our nation, with this election, has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past; a chance to chart a new way forward … not as members of any one party or faction but as Americans.
    And let me say, I know there are people of various political views watching tonight, and I want you to know I promise to be a president for all Americans. You can always trust me to put country above party and self; to hold sacred America’s fundamental principles, from the rule of law to free and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power.
  • As a young courtroom prosecutor in Oakland, California — I stood up for women and children against predators who abused them.
    As attorney general of California, I took on the big banks — delivered $20 billion for middle-class families who faced foreclosure and helped pass a homeowner bill of rights, one of the first of its kind in the nation.
    I stood up for veterans and students being scammed by big for-profit colleges — for workers who were being cheated out of their wages, the wages they were due — for seniors facing elder abuse.
    I fought against the cartels who traffic in guns and drugs and human beings — who threaten the security of our border and the safety of our communities.
    And I will tell you, these fights were not easy and neither were the elections that put me in those offices.
    We were underestimated at practically every turn, but we never gave up, because the future is always worth fighting for. And that’s the fight we are in right now: a fight for America’s future.
  • Fellow Americans, this election is not only the most important of our lives, it is one of the most important in the life of our nation.
    In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man.
    But the consequences … of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.
    Consider — consider not only the chaos and calamity when he was in office but also the gravity of what has happened since he lost the last election.
    Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes. When he failed, he sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol, where they assaulted law enforcement officers.
    When politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help, he did the opposite. He fanned the flames.
    And now, for an entirely different set of crimes, he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans — and separately — and separately found liable for committing sexual abuse.
    And consider — consider what he intends to do if we give him power again. Consider his explicit intent to set free violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers at the Capitol; his explicit intent to jail journalists, political opponents, and anyone he sees as the enemy; his explicit intent to deploy our active-duty military against our own citizens.
    Consider — consider the power he will have, especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled that he would be immune from criminal prosecution.
    Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.
    And how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States not to improve your life, not to strengthen our national security, but to serve the only client he has ever had: himself.
    And we know — and we know what a second Trump term would look like. It’s all laid out in Project 2025, written by his closest advisers. And its sum total is to pull our country back to the past. But, America — we are not going back.
    We are not going back.
  • We are not going back to when Donald Trump tried to cut Social Security and Medicare.
    We are not going back to when he tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, when insurance companies could deny people with preexisting conditions.
    We are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our public schools.
    We are not going to let him end programs like Head Start that provide preschool and childcare for our children.
    America, we are not going back.
  • We are charting a new way forward — forward to a future with a strong and growing middle class, because we know a strong middle class has always been critical to America’s success. And building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.
    And I’ll tell you, this is personal for me. The middle class is where I come from. My mother kept a strict budget. We lived within our means, yet we wanted for little. And she expected us to make the most of the opportunities that were available to us and to be grateful for them, because, as she taught us, opportunity is not available to everyone.
    That’s why we will create what I call an opportunity economy — an opportunity economy where everyone has the chance to compete and a chance to succeed — whether you live in a rural area, small town, or big city.
  • Now compare that to Donald Trump, because I think everyone here knows he doesn’t actually fight for the middle class. Not — he doesn’t actually fight for the middle class. Instead, he fights for himself and his billionaire friends. And he will give them another round of tax breaks that will add up to $5 trillion to the national debt. And all the while, he intends to enact what in effect is a national sales tax — call it a “Trump tax” — that would raise prices on middle-class families by almost $4,000 a year. Well, instead of a Trump tax hike, we will pass a middle-class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans.
  • I believe America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to make their own decisions about their own lives, especially on matters of heart and home. But tonight, in America, too many women are not able to make those decisions.
    And let’s be clear about how we got here. Donald Trump handpicked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom. And now he brags about it. In his words, quote, “I did it, and I’m proud to have done it.” End quote.
  • I’ll tell you, over the past two years, I’ve traveled across our country, and women have told me their stories. Husbands and fathers have shared theirs.
    Stories of women miscarrying in a parking lot, developing sepsis, losing the ability to ever again have children, all because doctors are afraid they may go to jail for caring for their patients. Couples just trying to grow their family, cut off in the middle of IVF treatments. Children who have survived sexual assault potentially being forced to carry a pregnancy to term.
    This is what’s happening in our country because of Donald Trump. And understand, he is not done. As a part of his agenda, he and his allies would limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion, and enact a nationwide abortion ban, with or without Congress. And get this. Get this. He plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator and force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions.
    Simply put, they are out of their minds.
  • One must ask: Why exactly is it that they don’t trust women? Well, we trust women. We trust women.
    And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.
    In this election, many other fundamental freedoms are at stake: the freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools, communities, and places of worship; the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride; the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis; and the freedom that unlocks all the others, the freedom to vote.
  • After decades in law enforcement, I know the importance of safety and security, especially at our border.
    Last year, Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades. The Border Patrol endorsed it. But Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign, so he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal.
    Well, I refuse to play politics with our security, and here is my pledge to you. As president, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed, and I will sign it into law.
  • I know we can live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system.
    We can create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border.
    And, America, we must also be steadfast in advancing our security and values abroad.
    As vice president, I have confronted threats to our security, negotiated with foreign leaders, strengthened our alliances, and engaged with our brave troops overseas.
    As commander in chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world. And I will fulfill our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families, and I will always honor and never disparage their service and their sacrifice.
  • I will make sure that we lead the world into the future on space and artificial intelligence; that America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century; and that we strengthen, not abdicate, our global leadership.
    Trump, on the other hand, threatened to abandon NATO. He encouraged Putin to invade our allies. Said Russia could, quote, “do whatever the hell they want.”
  • Five days before Russia attacked Ukraine, I met with President Zelenskyy to warn him about Russia’s plan to invade. I helped mobilize a global response — over 50 countries — to defend against Putin’s aggression. And as president, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO Allies.
  • With respect to the war in Gaza, President Biden and I are working around the clock, because now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done.
    And let me be clear. And let me be clear. I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself — and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7 — including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival.
    At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.
    President Biden and I are working to end this war, such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination.
  • I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists. I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong Un, who are rooting for Trump — who are rooting for Trump.
    Because, you know, they know — they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors. They know Trump won’t hold autocrats accountable because he wants to be an autocrat himself.
    And as president, I will never waver in defense of America’s security and ideals, because in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs.
  • I love our country with all my heart.
    Everywhere I go — everywhere I go, in everyone I meet, I see a nation that is ready to move forward, ready for the next step in the incredible journey that is America.
    I see an America where we hold fast to the fearless belief that built our nation and inspired the world — that here, in this country, anything is possible; that nothing is out of reach. An America where we care for one another, look out for one another, and recognize that we have so much more in common than what separates us. That none of us — none of us has to fail for all of us to succeed. And that in unity, there is strength.
  • Our opponents in this race are out there every day denigrating America, talking about how terrible everything is. Well, my mother had another lesson she used to teach: Never let anyone tell you who you are; you show them who you are.
    America, let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for: freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness, and endless possibilities.
  • We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world. And on behalf of our children and our grandchildren and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty, we must be worthy of this moment.
    It is now our turn to do what generations before us have done, guided by optimism and faith: to fight for this country we love, to fight for the ideals we cherish, and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth — the privilege and pride of being an American.
    So, let’s get out there, let’s fight for it. Let’s get out there, let’s vote for it. And together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.
    Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.


Quotes about Kamala Harris

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2019

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  • Kamala isn’t just having some moments tonight. She IS the moment. Wow.
    Oh my god. Biden meltdown. He is so offended that anyone dare question him. I am reminded that @cenkuygur predicted earlier today that Biden would be exposed... Holy sh... Kamala just obliterated Biden.
  • If you notice, I have more people supporting me in the black community that have announced for me, because they know me
    the only bl– African-American woman that ever been elected to the United States Senate...
    ...no I said the first! I said the first African-American elected! The first African... so my point is...

2020

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At her first campaign event with Biden, Harris acknowledged “all the heroic and ambitious women before me whose sacrifice, determination and resilience makes my presence here today even possible”...Crusading anti-lynching journalist Ida B. Wells, labor organizer Lucy Parsons, civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm, Congressmember Barbara Jordan and countless other African American women leaders forged the path that Kamala Harris now walks, often at great risk and without recognition or reward. ~ Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan
  • The junior senator from California on Thursday introduced the VoteSafe Act of 2020, a $5 billion piece of legislation that would satisfy what voting experts and advocates estimate states need to enact necessary reforms. Working closely with various secretaries of state, Harris crafted a bill that would standardize early in-person voting periods, mandating that each state have at least a 20-day period ahead of the November 3rd general election. It would also require states to permit no-excuse mail-in absentee voting for this election, allowing any citizen to submit such a ballot, regardless of explanation. The bill would also maintain minimum due process protections for each voter.
    • Jamil Smith, Kamala Harris’ Plan to Save the Election, Rolling Stone (16 April 2020)
  • Harris’s fondness for pearls goes much deeper than any political stylist’s involvement. She proudly wears a single-strand pearl necklace and drop earrings in her 1986 graduation picture from Howard University, where she was part of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. AKA—the first Black Greek-letter sorority—has a legendary story in which they refer to their founding members and incorporators as the “Twenty Pearls.” Each new member is given a special badge decorated with 20 pearls upon initiation.
  • Ms Harris - the only black woman in the US Senate - has spoken of "reimagining how we do public safety in America".... has described herself as a "progressive prosecutor" and "top cop" in her previous roles in California, but her record rankled both liberals and conservatives... for bolstering President Barack Obama's landmark Affordable Care Act... introduced a climate equity bill with... Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that seeks to rate how environmental laws affect lower-income communities... opposes fracking... called for federal legal action against the fossil fuel industry... outlined a $10tn climate plan for net-zero emissions by 2045... During her White House bid, Ms Harris promised to use executive action to enact stricter gun control... supported more regulation of gun manufacturers, mandatory background checks, tightening loopholes and a ban on assault weapons... proposed providing all workers with six months paid family leave for personal or medical issues, including those related to domestic violence.... suggested... that large companies should be required to be "equal pay certified" to close the gender pay gap, or face fines... pledged to offer a path to citizenship to the millions of undocumented immigrants living in the US... supported decriminalising border crossings by undocumented immigrants and providing taxpayer-funded healthcare for those crossing the US border without papers... outraged conservatives by drawing parallels between the Ku Klux Klan and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency within the US Department of Homeland Security.
  • Harris' record in San Francisco and then as California attorney general, the top law enforcement official in the state, came under close scrutiny during the run-up to the 2020 primary. She has described herself as a "progressive prosecutor" and won her first term as district attorney on a platform opposing capital punishment... Shortly after she took office, Harris announced she would not seek the death penalty against a suspect accused of killing a police officer.
    On the stump and during her run for Senate in 2016, Harris touted her role in that tough negotiation with the nation's five largest mortgage service firms, including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, and her work to strengthen -- with mixed results -- protections for homeowners targeted by predatory lenders. Harris pulled California out of the 2011 talks during a crucial moment, arguing that the deal coming into sight at the time -- hammered out with other state attorneys general -- was not strict enough on the banks...
    During the Democratic presidential primary... The left criticized Harris' record on criminal justice, from her election as district attorney in San Francisco to her time as California's attorney general.
    Those concerns were amplified after Harris' spectacular entry into the race in January 2019, when her announcement was greeted by an adoring crowd of 20,000 outdoors in Oakland, California. Her campaign would become the most expansively waged by any Black woman in American political history. Decades after Shirley Chisholm ran for president in 1972, Harris amassed more than $35 million dollars over 11 months, despite the challenges that Black women candidates face raising in money.
  • Kamala Harris is a Black woman: It’s not complicated
    Kamala Harris could become the first woman to be vice president. And she’s a Black woman.
    Calling her Black does not erase her Tamil roots. Yes, she’s the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India. Acknowledge the depth of her. Also note Harris has written about her Hindu mother raising her and her sister to be proud, Black women.
  • I really don't get into politics, but the President's advisor, Jenna Ellis, just said that Kamala Harris sounds like me. Lisa said she doesn't mean it as a compliment. If that's so, as an ordinary suburban housewife, I am starting to I feel a little disrespected . I teach my children not to namecall, Jenna. I was gonna say I'm pissed off, but I'm afraid they'd bleep..
    • Marge Simpson, Twitter, (14 August 2020)
  • Jacob Jr. told Sen. Harris that he was proud of her, and the senator told Jacob that she was also proud of him and how he is working through his pain.
    Jacob Jr. assured her that he was not going to give up on life for the sake of his children.
  • I think Senator Harris did a tremendous job in pointing out the economic injustice, but one of the things I would say is we have to stop saying things were well before COVID. It’s almost as though we give that away to the Trump and Pence. The reality is, Wall Street was well. The reality is, those who got his tax cuts were well. The reality is, though, that before COVID, they were trying to overturn healthcare. Before COVID, they were blocking living wages. Before COVID, we were not addressing the issue of poor and low-wealth people...
    One of the things I like about the fact of the Biden-Harris plan is that they are, number one, not talking about taking people’s healthcare. The Trump-Pence plan, that’s what they’re saying: “Elect us. We’ll take your healthcare.” The Biden-Harris plan is talking about raising people’s living wages, $15 an hour. The Trump-Pence plan is talking about giving more money to the wealthy. In fact, the Trump-Pence-McConnell plan, they refuse to pass a stimulus because they want another $200 billion in tax cuts, they want money for a fighter jet, and they want to protect corporations from liability when those corporations didn’t protect their people from coronavirus,,, while Biden and Harris may not be every, fully where the Poor People’s Campaign are, they are in the world of wanting to do more. They’re in the sphere of wanting to increase. They’re in the sphere of wanting to make sure that the people have what they need, as opposed to wanting to only secure the wealthy and the greedy.
    he was fusion politics indeed. She was the second Black woman to be the vice president on a major ticket, first on the stage to debate. You know, I couldn’t help but go to the Book of Exodus, where it talked about where God said, “If you don’t let my people go, I’m going to cause flies to come as a sign of what’s wrong. But I won’t let the flies be on the people, but the fly will be a symbol that you’re just wrong. You’re lying. Let my people go.” And Trump and Pence need to let the people go. They’ve been holding poor and low-wealth people hostage, essential workers hostage. It’s time for a change in this country.
  • You have a record last night, a ceiling shattered. Senator Kamala Harris made history as the first Black woman to debate a white man in a presidential or vice-presidential debate. She was the first Black woman, Indian American woman.
    Reverend Barber, at one point during the debate, a fly landed on Pence’s head for nearly two-and-a-half minutes, prompting widespread commentary online. Professor Ibram X. Kendi, author of the best-selling book How to Be an Antiracist, tweeted, “As soon as Pence started denying the existence of systemic racism, the fly got him!” And you have a record last night, a ceiling shattered. Senator Kamala Harris made history as the first Black woman to debate a white man in a presidential or vice-presidential debate. She was the first Black woman, Indian American woman. The significance of this, in the last 20 seconds we have?
  • [T]here’s a great deal of frustration that there is this choice not only to nominate a candidate who is known as the author of what is actually called the Joe Biden crime bill, but that he’s gone and also selected a running mate who is known for being the top cop from California, the state that has the second-highest number of incarcerated people in America. And moreover, Kamala Harris is someone who has had these criticisms leveraged at her throughout, very early on, at the start of her campaign, and, to many people in the activist community, has done very little to assuage people’s concerns about her previous stances or to demonstrate the level of growth that we would like to see.
  • While many have speculated they're linked to RBG, they're actually an homage to a sisterhood.
    Read on for the real meaning and symbolism behind Sen. Harris pearls—and their connection to Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
    But for anyone who has been paying attention to her style for a while would note that pearls have been a regular member of her wardrobe—and are likely a nod to her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
    Pearls have long been a statement piece of the first historically Black Greek sorority and its founders.
  • The California senator Kamala Harris, participating in the hearing remotely, argued that Barrett’s positions on key issues were clear... Harris at one point asked Barrett if she had heard Trump’s vows to seat a supreme court justice who would overturn Roe v Wade and the ACA (Affordable Care Act)... Harris also pointed out that Trump nominated Barrett to serve as an appellate judge seven months after Barrett penned an article criticizing Justice John Roberts’ ruling upholding the ACA. Harris argued that showed Trump had been elevating Barrett to overturn the healthcare law.

2021

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Pearls hold a particular symbolism for Harris as a link to her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Members of the sorority, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter sorority established for college women of African American heritage, are known as “pearls”. Harris has worn pearls at every milestone, from her graduation photo to her recent Vogue cover, framing them as a gesture of sisterhood and solidarity, rather than a display of wealth. ~ Jess Cartner-Morley
  • The senator’s tribute to AKA highlighted her affection for the group. In fact, her emotional connection to the sorority runs so deep that she wore a symbol in support of her sisters—a 34” necklace bejeweled with Akoya and South Sea pearls—to her acceptance speech.
  • The jewellery has a symbolic meaning for the vice-president-elect, Kamala Harris
    Ahead of the historic occasion, which will mark the first time a woman and a person of colour has been appointed vice president of America, social media users have been posting photographs of themselves wearing pearls, prompting the phrase “wear pearls on inauguration day” to trend
  • The Kamala Harris pearls ode is a nod to Alpha Kappa Alpha, the oldest historically Black sorority in the country, which Harris joined while at Howard University. The sorority’s founders are known as the Twenty Pearls, and Harris wears pearls in solidarity with her sisters.
  • The Vice President favors pearls for a very specific reason.
    It is Harris’s consistent show of loyalty to her sorority sisters, the women who have been some of her most vocal supporters throughout her political career, that is perhaps her most obvious—and most endearing—tribute.
    Harris’s ever-present pearl necklace might seem like a safe bet at her inauguration today, but this particular piece of jewelry is imbued with symbolism. It represents her Howard University sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), the first African American Greek-letter sorority. The founders of AKA are often referred to as the “Twenty Pearls,” and in a show of honor and sisterhood, Harris has worn a pearl necklace at nearly every important life occasion since her graduation from college.
  • Pearls hold a particular symbolism for Harris as a link to her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Members of the sorority, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter sorority established for college women of African American heritage, are known as “pearls”. Harris has worn pearls at every milestone, from her graduation photo to her recent Vogue cover, framing them as a gesture of sisterhood and solidarity, rather than a display of wealth.
  • Her trademark pearls have even launched social activist groups, including Facebook’s Wear Pearls on Jan 20th 2021 and United By Pearls, each with hundreds of thousands of members. Kamala’s distinctive style is elegant yet practical, modern yet timeless. Pearls are a key component of Kamala Harris’ style, and they have a long history in politics and power.

2022

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  • Vice President Kamala Harris, who was a first-term senator from California before entering the White House, hasn’t been given the sort of immersive experiences or sustained, high-profile tasks that would deepen and broaden her expertise in ways Americans could see and appreciate.
  • Ms. Harris has been a regular target of negative stories — about staff disarray and departures or her annoyance that White House staff members didn’t stand when she entered a room or even her discomfort in some media interviews. She has also faced double standards in how she is seen and judged, as many women and people of color are, including when they are firsts in jobs. But she’s also not the first vice president to be sniped at and frustrated by a job whose constitutional duties are to preside over the Senate and count electoral votes.

2023

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  • Influential Democrats don’t want Biden to retire because they know Harris can’t win in 2024. But he can’t dump her from the reelection campaign, for fear of infuriating what the Times calls "key Democratic constituencies."
  • Harris’s election was supposed to break down barriers. Instead, her legacy may also be to illustrate the folly of identity politics.

2024

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  • It was always true that Kamala Harris was going to be a better messenger on abortion. Part of that is relatability. Part of that is living her life. But part of that is her experience and the way she talks about it. She is out there visiting a Planned Parenthood, talking to providers and talking to patients. She is stridently offended by where Republicans are on this issue and that’s a compelling position.
  • She was the first one to call for a ceasefire. She was the first one to call for Palestinian self-determination. She was the first one to use very powerful language about the devastation of Gaza and the suffering of the people there.
    She’s been about as clear as you could be that there is a difference in her outlook on this. I’m not going to let you in on all of them but there are indications we’re getting that they do want to turn corners here. They’ve opened a door already in terms of language and policy will follow.
  • The DNC and its media organs engineered a surge of popularity for Vice President Harris based upon nothing. No policies, no interviews, no debates, only smoke and mirrors and balloons in a highly produced Chicago circus.

See also

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