It’s Official: Senator Kamala Harris Holds First Presidential Rally

U.S. Senator Kamala Harris kicked off her 2020 campaign for the Presidency with a spirited rally from her hometown, cheered on by a crowd of supporters chanting, “Kamala! Kamala!”

The former attorney general said, “I am a proud daughter of Oakland,” as she recalled how her parents, from Jamaica and India, met while students at the University of California-Berkley.

Harris anchored her speech with highlights from her career as California’s top lawyer.

“In our system of justice, we believe a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us,” she said. “In my whole life, I’ve only had one client…the people.”

During her speech, California’s junior senator acknowledged the growing field of Democratic contenders.

“They’ll say, ‘It’s not your time…wait your turn…the odds are long,’” she explained. “America’s story has always been written by people who can see what can be…unburdened by what has been done. That is our story.”

Last week on MLK Day, Harris announced her candidacy. By doing so, she seized the symbolism of the Civil Rights icon and joined two other Democrats who had also announced their presidential intentions, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julian Castro .

Harris did not mention other candidates nor did the rising Democratic political star call President Donald Trump by name, but she alluded to him.

“America, we are better than this,” she stated. “When we have leaders, who bully and attack a free press and undermine our democratic institutions, that is not our America.”

She continued, “And, when American families are barely living paycheck to paycheck, what is this administration’s response? To try to take healthcare away from millions of Americans…to give away a trillion dollars to companies…to point to immigrants as the source of all our problems. Let’s understand what’s happening here… [they are telling us] that the villain in our American story is each other. That is not our story. That is not who we are…that is not our America.”

She stressed inclusion before the coalition of African American, Latino, and gay voters who gathered Sunday afternoon for her announcement.

“Our United States of America is about we, the people,” she said. “In this moment, we must all speak truth about what is happening, we must see truth, speak truth, and fight for the truth.”

On criminal justice, Harris addressed the police brutality and criminal justice issues that concern many African Americans.

She emphasized, “Too many unarmed Black men and women are killed in America,” and called for “drastic repair” to the criminal justice system.

Interrupted at several points during her speech by applause, Harris promised the largest tax cut in a generation for working class Americans, paid for by reversing the Trump tax cut for the wealthy.

Harris credited her mother with her “fighting spirit” and urged her supporters to frame her campaign within the context of American history.

“We are here knowing we are at an inflection point in the history of our world, in our nation,” she said. “Our American dream is under attack and on the line like never before. We are here at this moment and time because we must answer a fundamental question: Who are we as Americans?”