Kamala Harris tells student association: ‘We don’t play games’
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Vice President Kamala Harris ramped up her campaign rhetoric and attacked Donald Trump, who spoke in Indiana on Wednesday and vowed, “We don’t play games.” The vice president’s visit to Indianapolis was her second stop on the road since clinching enough delegates to become the Democratic presidential nominee within two days after President Biden withdrew from the 2024 race on Sunday.
But it comes amid criticism from Republicans in Washington who accuse her of skipping the chairmanship of a joint session of Congress where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to deliver a speech. Harris delivered the speech 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,” which includes Harris’s sisterhood, Alpha Kappa Alpha.
Her appearance at the event was planned before Biden withdrew from the race, but the vice president used the visit to rally support for her presidential campaign from sorority members and to take on Trump. “You know, when he was president, Donald Trump, the former president hand-picked three members of the United States Supreme Court because he wanted them to overturn Roe v. Wade,” Harris said.
“And as he intended, they did,” she continued. “Now, let me tell you something, when I am president of the United States, if Congress passes a bill to restore those freedoms, I will sign it.” When she brought up the presidency, 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.
“Right now, our nation needs your leadership again,” she told the crowd. “Right now, 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 touched on the conservative Project 2025, which Democrats have warned will be implemented if Trump is re-elected.
“These extremists want us back, but we’re not going back,” she said to cheers. The vice president’s office said 6,000 people attended the luncheon. During the stop, Harris also praised Biden’s leadership and previewed what to expect from his prime-time address Wednesday night.
“He’ll talk not just about the work, the extraordinary work that he’s done, but about his work over the next six months,” Harris said. The president is expected to speak to the nation from the Oval Office about his decision to step aside and not seek 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 red state comes as 100 Democrats are expected to skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Wednesday amid tensions over the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
A group of Republican senators criticized the vice president for missing the joint speech at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, saying the claim of a scheduling conflict was inappropriate. But Harris is not the only top Democrat who was absent from the speech. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the second-most powerful Democratic senator from Illinois, Sen. Durbin, will also be absent. The vice president will meet separately with Netanyahu on Thursday, the White House said.
