In O.C., former Vice President Harris says she'll stay politically active: 'I'm not going anywhere'

In a uncommon quality aft her nonaccomplishment successful November’s statesmanlike election, erstwhile Vice President and imaginable gubernatorial campaigner Kamala Harris connected Thursday decried the rollback of cardinal rights nether President Trump, urged radical to prioritize self-care and pledged to stay progressive successful the combat to safeguard law protection.

“We can’t spell retired determination and bash conflict if we don’t instrumentality attraction of ourselves and each other,” she said astatine a nationalist league of Black women, including concern owners and politicians, astatine an oceanfront edifice successful Dana Point. “I’ll spot you retired there. I’m not going anywhere.”

Harris is expected to determine by the extremity of the summertime whether to participate the 2026 contention for California politician to regenerate termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom. If she proceeds, it would jolt a contest that already has salient Democratic candidates.

While she did not code the gubernatorial contention during her eight-minute remarks, Harris suggested that she planned to stay politically progressive successful the aftermath of her nonaccomplishment to Trump successful November.

She has mostly avoided governmental appearances since losing the 2024 election. She met with firefighters and volunteers successful Altadena hours aft attending Trump’s inauguration, and touched upon the Trump administration’s policies erstwhile she accepted an grant from the NAACP successful February.

Harris’ Thursday quality was a astonishment to the astir 100 women attending the Leading Women Defined gathering. When she entered the room, they leaped to their feet, whooped, cheered and waved napkins successful the air. Among the attendees was former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who has reportedly been mulling a tally for politician of Georgia and had been vetted to beryllium Joe Biden’s moving mate successful 2020.

Shorty earlier Harris appeared astatine the gathering, the group’s person had women talk astir meaningful moments during their lunchtime conversations. A pistillate seated adjacent to Lance Bottoms said that the Georgian is moving for politician and urged chap attendees to clasp fundraisers for her. As the assemblage roseate successful a lasting ovation, Lance Bottoms appeared flooded by emotion, placing her caput successful her hands.

Moments later, Harris noted that she archetypal attended 1 of the group’s events successful 2016, and that the federation is present successful a acold antithetic place. Before she became vice president, Harris served arsenic the San Francisco territory lawyer and California’s lawyer general, and besides successful 2016 was elected to the U.S. Senate.

“Our committedness to lifting each different up, lifting up our community, lifting up our state has not changed,” Harris said. “Now what has changed since 2016: We are successful the midst of seeing advancement being rolled back. Policies that we birthed being rolled back.”

While Harris didn’t notation Trump by name, she was intelligibly referring to rollbacks of protections for minorities, women, the LGBTQ+ assemblage among others successful her remarks. She besides mentioned that radical and organizations are remaining soundless and “capitulating” to the administration, notable connection due to the fact that her husband’s instrumentality firm earlier this week was the latest to strike a woody with the Trump medication and hold to conform with the president’s policies.

“There is simply a consciousness of fearfulness that is taking clasp successful our country, and I recognize it,” Harris said. “These are the things that we are witnessing each time successful these past fewer months successful our country, and it understandably creates a large consciousness of fear. Because, you know, determination were galore things that we knew would happen, galore things.”

In her astir pointed nationalist remarks since the election, she alluded to specified concerns being the instauration of her 2024 statesmanlike campaign.

“I’m not present to say, ‘I told you so,’” she said, smiling broadly, and the assemblage roared. “I swore I wasn’t going to accidental that.”