Kamala Harris tells sorority ‘we aren’t playing around’ as she skips Netanyahu’s address to Congress: VP previews Biden’s speech while facing fury for snub

Vice President Kamala Harris ratcheted up her campaign rhetoric and attacked Donald Trump on Wednesday, speaking in Indiana and vowing, “We don’t play games.”

The vice president’s visit to Indianapolis was her second stop on the road since winning enough delegates in two days to become the Democratic presidential nominee, but President Biden dropped out of the 2024 race on Sunday.

However, the statement follows criticism from Republicans in Washington, who accused her of not chairing a joint session of Congress where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to deliver a speech.

Harris delivered the address at the historically black Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.’s Grand Boulé. Zeta Phi Beta is part of the collection of nine historically black fraternities and sisterhoods known as the “Divine Nine,” of which Harris’ sisterhood Alpha Kappa Alpha is also a member.

Her attendance at the event was scheduled before Biden withdrew from the race, but the vice president used her visit to drum up support for her presidential campaign among her sorority and to take on Trump.

“You know, when Donald Trump was president, he handpicked three members of the United States Supreme Court because he wanted them to overturn Roe v. Wade,” Harris said.

“And just as he intended to do, they did,” she continued. “Well, let me tell you something, if I’m president of the United States, if Congress passes a bill to restore those freedoms, I will sign it.”

When she said she wanted to be president, the audience erupted in cheers. It was the biggest applause line of her remarks.

“We don’t play games,” Harris responded to laughter as the applause died down.

“At this moment, our nation needs your leadership again,” she told the crowd. “At this moment, I believe, we are faced with a choice between two different visions for our nation, one focused on the future, the other focused on the past.”

Harris also took aim at the conservative Project 2025, which Democrats have warned will be implemented if Trump is re-elected.

“These extremists want to take us back, but we are not going back,” she said to cheers.

According to the vice president’s office, 6,000 people attended the luncheon.

Vice President Harris steps out of Air Force Two upon arrival in Indianapolis on July 24

Attendees cheered Vice President Harris as she delivered a keynote address for the Zeta Phi Beta event. During her visit, the phrase “when I am President” was met with thunderous applause

During his speech, Harris also praised Biden’s leadership and gave a preview of what to expect from his primetime address on Wednesday night.

“He will talk not only about the work, the extraordinary work he has done, but also about his work over the next six months,” Harris said.

The president is expected to address the nation from the Oval Office about his decision to step down and not run for a second term.

“Joe Biden is a leader with a bold vision. He cares about the future. He thinks about the future. He has extraordinary determination and deep compassion for the people of our country,” she said.

Harris’ visit to the Republican state comes as nearly 100 Democrats are set to skip Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Wednesday amid tensions over the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, DC on July 24, prior to addressing a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill

A group of Republican senators slammed the vice president for missing the joint speech at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, saying the claim of a scheduling conflict was inappropriate.

But Harris isn’t the only prominent Democrat who wasn’t present for the speech. Fformer Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and the second most powerful Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois will also be absent.

The vice president will meet separately with Netanyahu on Thursday, the White House said.