Kamala Harris gave her first public speech since leaving the White House, where she took aim at former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Harris received the Chairman’s Award at the 56th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday. This award recognizes people who make a difference in public service and use their influence to create positive change.
In her speech, Harris did not mention Trump or Musk by name, but made it clear she was criticizing them.
“The American story will be written by you, written by us, by We the People,” Harris said. “It will not be written simply by whoever is in the Oval Office, nor by the wealthiest among us.”
At the same time, Trump and Musk were making headlines. They required every federal employee to send an email with five bullet points on their accomplishments from the past week. If workers didn’t send this by the Monday night deadline, Musk said they would be considered to have resigned.
Harris encouraged the audience to stay strong and keep fighting, reminding them of their power to make a difference.
“But we know exactly what to do because we have done it before, and we will do it again,” Harris said. “We use our power, we organize, mobilize, we educate and we advocate. Our strength comes from our faith in God, in each other, and in our refusal to give up.”
Harris has kept a low profile since leaving office, making appearances at a California wildfire relief center, a Lakers game, and a FireAid concert in Los Angeles.
While Harris hasn’t shared her exact plans, reports say she’s keeping her options open for either running for president again or for governor of California after her previous election loss.
