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Kamala Harris officially launches 2020 bid

Kamala Harris speaks at Howard University in Washington, D.C., earlier this week. Photo: Eva Hambach/AFP/Getty Images

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) officially launched her 2020 presidential bid Sunday in her hometown of Oakland, California, delivering a stern repudiation of President Trump's policies and a vow to fight for the most vulnerable Americans.

What she said: "My whole life I have only one client: the people. And fight for the people means fighting for a more fair criminal justice system. … For the people, meant fighting for middle-class families who had been defrauded by banks and lost their homes in the Great Recession."

  • Harris, who began her career as a prosecutor in Oakland and later became the state’s attorney general, used her speech to portray herself as a lifelong champion for marginalized people and someone who can unify the deeply divided country.
  • "These are not ordinary times or an ordinary election. But this is our America. ... We can restore America’s moral leadership on this planet," Harris said.
  • Harris, whose mother is Indian and father is Jamaican, would be the first woman and the first person of Asian descent to serve as president.

Watch the video of her announcement:

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