Kamala Harris takes aim at Trump, Project 2025 in Indy
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Vice President Harris hugs Zeta Phi Beta international president Stacie NC Grant before speaking at the Indiana Convention Center. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images
During a long-planned stop at the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority national convention, Vice President Harris laid out her presidential platform to her fellow Divine Nine members, urging them to join in the fight.
Why it matters: The presumptive Democratic nominee pulled no punches in Indianapolis Wednesday, taking direct aim at former President Trump, the Heritage Foundation-backed Project 2025, and an ideology that she argued seeks to "make great again" things that never were.
- "As we work to build a brighter future and move our nation forward, we must also recognize there are those who are trying to take us backward," Harris said.
Driving the news: Her keynote speech — originally billed as a guest appearance at a social justice town hall — began with a mention of President Biden and a recap of the administration's work thus far.
- Harris then thanked the thousands of Zeta Phi Beta members at the Indiana Convention Center for fighting "to build a brighter future."
- "During the Civil Rights movement you marched for voting rights, economic justice and an end to segregation." That "leadership" continued in 2020, with Biden's victory, she said.
Zoom out: Harris' candidacy is quickly galvanizing a massive and politically powerful network of Black women who have long been described as the "backbone" of the Democratic Party — including the historically Black Divine Nine sororities.
Zoom in: Harris said her agenda will focus on efforts to keep health care costs down, combat child poverty and ease the financial strains of the working class.
- She zeroed in on protecting women's rights, addressing widespread gun violence and the right to learn America's full history, no matter how unsavory some chapters may be.
- She also vowed to sign national abortion protections into law.
Harris attacked Project 2025, the plan presented as a road map for the next Republican administration that includes proposals to shrink the social safety net and cap Medicaid funding.
- "Now can you believe they put that in writing?" Harris asked amid a sea of boos. "900 pages of it. Project 2025. A plan to return America to a dark past."
The other side: Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 at a recent rally in Michigan, saying that it was "seriously extreme" and conceived by people on the "severe right."
The bottom line: The stakes this year are high, Harris said, asking the group to help boost her campaign.
- "When we organize, mountains move. When we mobilize, nations change. And when we vote, we make history."
Go deeper: How the Divine Nine is boosting Kamala Harris' campaign