Former Vice President Kamala Harris plans to offer a pointed critique of President Trump and his policies on Wednesday in her first major speech since leaving office.
“She will reflect on the enduring promise of America and issue a call to action in the face of reckless economic policies and the urgent and escalating crisis facing America’s institutions and global leadership,” according to a person with knowledge of Harris’ speech who requested anonymity to speak candidly.
The speech, which is expected to be her most extensive remarks since losing the presidential election in November and leaving office in January, comes as Harris has been weighing whether to enter the 2026 California governor’s race to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Harris, 60, is not expected to make a decision until the end of the summer — a delay that has prompted criticism from fellow Democrats who argue that politicians can’t sit on the sidelines at a crucial moment in the nation’s and the state’s future.
Harris’ speech will take place at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco at the 20th anniversary gala of Emerge, a training program for female candidates aimed at increasing the number of Democratic women in elected office. The group was co-founded by Andrea Dew Steele, who advised Harris’ successful 2003 campaign for district attorney of San Francisco.
The former vice president is expected to speak about Emerge’s efforts to elect women as well as offer her most substantive remarks to date about the Trump administration.
“She will expand upon her theme of ‘courage is contagious’ and celebrate the many Americans exhibiting courage and remaining vocal and vigilant,” according to the source familiar with the speech.
Harris has kept a relatively low profile since leaving office. She met with firefighters and volunteers in Altadena hours after attending Trump’s inauguration, and touched upon the Trump administration’s policies when she accepted an award from the NAACP in February.
Earlier this month, she decried the rollback of fundamental rights under Trump without mentioning him by name during a surprise appearance at a national conference of Black women leaders, including business owners and politicians, at an oceanfront resort in Dana Point.
“Our commitment to lifting each other up, lifting up our community, lifting up our country has not changed,” Harris said at the Leading Women Defined conference. “Now what has changed since 2016: We are in the midst of seeing progress being rolled back. Policies that we birthed being rolled back.”
Referring to diminishing of protections for minorities, women, the LGBTQ+ community and others, Harris alluded to such concerns as central themes of her 2024 presidential campaign.
“I’m not here to say, ‘I told you so,’” she said, smiling broadly as the crowd roared. “I swore I wasn’t going to say that.”
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