Former Vice President Kamala Harris used her first public speech since leaving the White House to slam President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, leader of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Harris was honored Saturday evening with the Chairman’s Award at the 56th NAACP Image Awards. The award honors those who “excel in public service and leverage their unique platforms to ignite and drive meaningful change.”
Harris used her acceptance speech to decry the president and the world’s richest man without mentioning them by name.
“This chapter will be written, not simply by whoever occupies the Oval Office, nor by the wealthiest among us,” Harris said. “The American story will be written by you, written by us, by We the People.”
As Harris slammed Trump and Musk, the pair ordered emails be sent to every federal employee requiring they send five bullet points describing what they accomplished in the last week. Not responding before the Monday night deadline will be considered a resignation, Musk said.
Harris told her supporters not to give up as the crowd applauded her.
“But we know exactly what to do because we have done it before, and we will do it again,” she said. “We use our power, we organize, mobilize, we educate and we advocate, because you see, our power has never come from having an easy path.”
“Our strength flows from our faith, faith in God, faith in each other and our refusal to surrender to cynicism and destruction, not because it is easy, but because it is necessary, not because victory is guaranteed, but because the fight is worth it,” she added.
Since leaving office Harris has kept a low profile, popping up at a California wildfire relief center, a Los Angeles Lakers game and the LA FireAid concerts.
Last week, the Democrat signed with the Creative Arts Agency. The agency will “work closely with Harris on her post-White House initiatives” and “expand her platform in support of the issues she has championed throughout her decades-long career in public service.”
Former President Joe Biden also signed with the agency just two weeks after leaving office. The Los Angeles-based agency boasts several other A-list names, including former President Barack Obama, Beyoncé, Brad Pitt, Ariana Grande and NBA star Devin Booker.
Harris’s post-White House plans still aren’t clear, but she reportedly told her advisers to keep her options open for either another presidential bid or a gubernatorial run in California after losing the election.
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