Former Vice President Kamala Harris took veiled jabs at President Donald Trump and Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk during her first major speech since her election loss in November.
After several months out of the public spotlight, Harris stepped onto the stage at the 56th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday in the Los Angeles-area to accept the NAACP’s Chairman’s Award.
The former Democratic presidential candidate called for a “sense of urgency,” asserting that “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty” as she urged the Pasadena crowd to “stay alert, to seek the truth and to actively participate in the fight for America’s future.”
“The organization came into being at a moment when our country struggled with greed, bitterness and hatred. And those who forged the NAACP legacy, those who carried its legacy had no illusions about the forces they were up against. No illusions about how stony the road would be. But some look at this moment and rightly feel the weight of history,” Harris said. “Some see the flames on our horizons, the rising waters in our cities, the shadows gathering over our democracy and ask, what do we do now? But we know exactly what to do because we have done it before, and we will do it again. 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.”
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Former Vice President Kamala Harris accepts the NAACP Chairman’s Award during the 56th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025 in Pasadena, California. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
Harris, who formerly served as a U.S. senator from California and the state’s attorney general, continued, “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.”
“And while we have no illusions about what we are up against in this chapter in our American story, this chapter will be written not simply by whoever occupies the Oval Office, nor by the wealthiest among us,” Harris said, appearing to reference Trump and Musk, who is the wealthiest person in the world. “The American story will be written by you, written by us, by we, the people.”
Former Vice President Kamala Harris accepts the NAACP Chairman’s Award during the 56th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025 in Pasadena, California. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
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Her speech comes at a time when the Democratic Party is in a messaging crisis after Trump soundly defeated Harris in November’s presidential election.
Like former President Joe Biden did earlier this month, Harris signed with the powerful Hollywood talent agency, Creative Artists Agency, days ago. The agency said in its announcement on Instagram that it would focus on “speaking engagements and publishing,” and work closely with Harris “on her post-White House initiatives, creating strategic opportunities that expand her platform in support of the issues she has championed through her decades-long career in public service.”
President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025 in Oxon Hill, Maryland. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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In his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump referenced Harris as Biden’s border czar, telling the Washington, D.C., area crowd, “I haven’t said that name in a while.”
