Featured Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Topics: Kamala Harris, Politics, US News, Donald Trump
Jen Thomas
Topics: Kamala Harris, Politics, US News, Donald Trump
Kamala Harris has referenced a recent viral video, while having a thinly-veiled dig at President Trump in her new speech.
The video featured elephants at San Diego Zoo reacting to an earthquake.
While speaking at Emerge's 20th anniversary gala in San Francisco, Harris said: "A lot of folks are wondering what’s going to guide us through this moment. How are we all going to figure out how to chart the course."
She added: “Please allow me, friends, to digress for a moment.”
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“Okay, it’s kind of dark in here, but I’m asking for a show of hands — who saw that video from a couple of weeks ago the one of the elephants at the San Diego Zoo during the earthquake. Google it if you’ve not seen it,” she laughed.
Kamala went on to describe the video, saying the elephants 'felt the earth shaking beneath their feet', causing them to 'go in a circle and stood next to each other to protect the most vulnerable'.
“What a powerful metaphor, because we know those who try to incite fear are most effective when they divide and conquer, when they separate the herd, when they try to make everyone think they are alone," she pointed out.
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The viral video moment added some comic relief to a speech which attacked Donald Trump's America after his first 100 days in office.
Harris was speaking for an organisation which trains women to run for office.
She slammed Trump and his administration, saying they have caused 'the greatest man-made economic crisis in modern presidential history' and said he has abandoned the American ideals.
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"Americans across the political spectrum who are declaring that the president’s reckless tariffs hurt workers and families by raising the cost of everyday essentials, devastate the retirement accounts that people spent a lifetime paying into, and paralyze American businesses, large and small,” Harris said.
"We here know that when the checks and balances ultimately collapse, if Congress fails to do its part, or if the courts fail to do their part, or if both do their part but the president defies them anyway … that is called a constitutional crisis,” she insisted.
The former vice president warned that a crisis 'will eventually impact everyone'.
She also criticised Trump's crackdown on colleges and universities, calling them 'unconstitutional demands that threaten the pursuit of truth and academic independence'.
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Harris also brought up the wrongful deportation of an alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the brutal El Salvador prison, saying: “It is not OK to violate court orders. It is not OK to detain or disappear American citizens or anyone without due process.”
She made sure to praise fellow Democrats who have spoken out against Trump and his administration.
“I have been inspired by the movements, like the one in Wisconsin that put Susan Crawford on the Supreme Court,” she said.
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“And by leaders across the spectrum, including congressional leaders like Cory Booker, Chris Van Hollen, Chris Murphy, Jasmine Crockett, Maxwell Frost, AOC, and Bernie Sanders, all who in different ways have been speaking with moral clarity.”
There are rumours swirling that Harris will run for California governor in 2026, as well as potentially making another bid for the presidency in 2028.
She made no bold claims during the speech, but issued another stern warning about life under Trump: “I am not here tonight to offer all the answers, but I am here to say this: things are probably going to get worse before they get bette, but we are ready for it. We are not going to scatter.”
She finished by saying: “Let’s lock it in. This country is ours. It doesn’t belong to whoever is in the White House. It belongs to you. It belongs to us.”