Kamala Harris in San Francisco, makes 1st major speech since losing election

Full speech: Kamala Harris speaks in San Francisco's Emerge gala

Former Vice President Kamala Harris attended the Emerge 20th Anniversary Gala, where she was the keynote speaker this evening. The organization searches for and develops female political candidates.

SAN FRANCISCO - Former Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at an event in San Francisco on Wednesday night in what was her biggest speech since losing the 2024 election to President Donald Trump.

Keynote speaker

What we know:

Harris attended the Emerge 20th Anniversary Gala, where she was the keynote speaker. The organization searches for and develops female political candidates.

As expected, Harris' speech took aim at the Trump presidency. Since her loss in November, she has barely mentioned Trump by name.

Kamala Harris to speak Wednesday night in San Francisco

Kamala Harris, former vice president and presidential candidate in the 2024 election, is scheduled to speak in San Francisco Wednesday evening. Harris is speaking at the 20th anniversary gala for Emerge America, an organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for office that grew in part from Harris’ run for district attorney in the early 2000s.

"Fear has a way of being contagious, and we are witnessing that, no doubt," she said at the Leading Women Defined Summit in early April, a forum for Black women leaders.

"But courage is also contagious," she added, urging her audience to speak out against Trump. The current moment highlights "the power of kindness, the power of sisterhood, the power of self care."

At tonight's event, held at the Palace Hotel, Harris repeated herself, and spoke about Trump's first 100 days in office.

She said the Trump administration is counting on the notion that fear is contagious and that we are seeing the rising cost of everyday items, compounded by the devastation to people's retirement accounts.

Commenting on the administration's mass deportation efforts and the high-profile cases where protesters from college campuses have been detained and a man from Maryland who was mistakenly sent to a Salvadorean prison, she said, "It's not OK to disappear and detain American citizens without due process."

She said some describe what has been happening in the past 100 days as chaos, but she said, "What we are witnessing is their vision for America," adding, "This is not a vision that Americans want." Harris said what we are seeing in the second Trump administration is the swift implementation of an agenda that has been decades in the making.

The former vice president slammed the Trump administration's tariff policies and economic agenda.

"An agenda that is not lowering costs, not making life more affordable and not what they promised," she told the crowd.

Harris also used her message to encourage Democrats to band together.

"This country is ours, it doesn't belong to who's in the White House," said Harris. "It belongs to you, it belongs to ‘we the people.’"

In her brief speech's conclusion, Harris referenced the recent viral video of elephants huddling during an earthquake.

"They got in a circle and stood next to each other to protect the most vulnerable. What a powerful metaphor. The lesson is don't scatter. Immediately find and connect with each other and to know that the circle will be strong."

While those words may seem wise, she kept it real when she said, "Straight talk. Things are probably gonna get worse before they get better."

"I am not here to offer all the answers. You are not alone and we are all in this together."

Vice President Kamala Harris talks about sending Oakalnd students to college. Aug. 12, 2022

What's next for Harris?

The speech comes amid speculation about what Harris will do next. Her camp has said she will decide whether she will run for California governor by the end of summer. California Gov. Newsom will term out of office in 2027.

She could also launch another run for the presidency in the 2028 race.

She made no definitive plans regarding future political aspirations at tonight's speech.

Harris has already made history as the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president under President Joe Biden. She was thrust into the 2024 presidential race when Biden ended his campaign and endorsed her as his successor.

Harris has deep ties to the Bay Area as a Berkeley native and as San Francisco's district attorney, a role she took on in 2004, followed by becoming California's State Attorney General and serving as the U.S. senator from California.

KTVU's Greg Lee and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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