Politico | Democrat Kamala Harris kicks off presidential campaign by laying into Donald Trump
- The California senator tells an Oakland crowd: ‘I will lead with integrity and I will speak the truth’
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Christopher Cadelago and Carla Marinucci on politico.com on January 27, 2019.
Senator Kamala Harris, formally launching her presidential campaign against Donald Trump with a call to end the politics of division, cast herself on Sunday as a voice for progressive causes and a fighter who could stand up to the president – specifically by countering his many falsehoods with the truth.
Speaking at a raucous hometown rally in Oakland, California – where more than 20,000 supporters crowded around a downtown plaza and hundreds more spilled into the streets – Harris declared that American democracy was under attack like “never before”.
Set against the flags of all 50 states, but delivered in a deeply divided America, the address invoked the trauma of the Watergate era of high cynicism and low confidence in Washington’s leaders.
The California Democrat portrayed her candidacy as the antidote to a growing unease with the country’s direction today, and to concerns that core values that should define the presidency are disintegrating under Trump.
She wrapped her campaign opener around two broad themes: truth and civility.