{"id":204648,"date":"2026-03-04T23:42:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/204648\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T23:42:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:42:19","slug":"kamala-harris-rips-trump-as-corrupt-callous-at-oakland-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/204648\/","title":{"rendered":"Kamala Harris rips Trump as \u201ccorrupt, callous\u201d at Oakland event"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s so good to be home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those were Kamala Harris\u2019s first words to a packed house on Tuesday night at Oakland\u2019s Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts. Even Mayor Barbara Lee showed up for what turned into a lively, intimate, and hopeful conversation between the former vice president and Rep. Lateefah Simon.<\/p>\n

As soon as Harris said those words, the diverse crowd erupted in cheers and applause\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love you!\u201d one audience member shouted.<\/p>\n

The conversation didn\u2019t revolve around Harris\u2019s failed presidential campaign or her new book, \u201c107 Days,\u201d about her attempted sprint to the White House, or her future political aspirations. Rather, the dialogue focused on the current political moment, the upcoming midterm elections, and her personal connections to Oakland \u2014 and to Simons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"20260303_Harris_EG_009\"\/Rep. Lateefah Simon and former vice president Kamala Harris have a personal relationship dating back nearly three decades. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"20260303_Harris_EG_025\"\/Attendees cheer as former Vice President Kamala Harris walks onto the stage for a hometown event in support of her book tour. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

Harris offered up some sharp critiques of the Trump Administration, and an unnerving prediction, telling Simon that she expects the Supreme Court to gut Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which allows voters to challenge\u00a0 racially discriminatory voting maps in court. SCOTUS is currently considering whether the provision remains constitutional.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is part of the agenda they have been having for decades,\u201d she told the crowd. \u201cWe are witnessing the most corrupt, callous, and incompetent administration in this White House that we have ever seen in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris said the stakes are high for the midterms, as there is an urgent need to place guardrails around the Trump Administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we win the midterms, which we will do, but it will not be easy,\u201d she said. \u201cWe will put in place colleagues for Latieeah Simon in Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris also raised concerns about the SAVE America Act<\/a>, a voter suppression measure that passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives in February, but still lacks the votes to pass in the Senate<\/a>. It would require voters to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote and a photo ID when voting. These requirements would require citizens to spend significant sums to obtain an original birth certificate or passport. It could also disproportionately impact trans people and married women \u2014 anyone whose current legal name doesn\u2019t match their birth certificate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWouldn\u2019t you say that $165 for a passport is a poll tax?\u201d asked Simon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a new version of legalizing obstruction to the ability of people to register to vote,\u201d Harris responded.<\/p>\n

\"20260303_Harris_EG_002\"\/Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee was in attendance at the event at the newly restored Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"20260303_Harris_EG_001\"\/Douglas Emhoff, Harris\u2019 husband and former second gentleman, is greeted by cheers as he walks to his seat. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

At several points, the conversation became more intimate, as Harris and Simon discussed their personal relationship, which goes back almost three decades.<\/p>\n

Simon shared stories from when the two first met, when Simon was executive director of the Center for Young Women\u2019s Development \u2014 now the Young Women\u2019s Freedom Center \u2014 in San Francisco and Harris was working for the office of the San Francisco city attorney.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really young, maybe 21,\u201d Simon said. \u201cYou called me and said, \u2018Lateefah, someone told me that I should call you. You work with young women who are living and surviving on the streets. And I said, \u2018Yes. I work with teen prostitutes.\u2019 And you said to me, \u2018There is no such thing Lateefah Simon as a teenage prostitute.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Simon spoke of Harris\u2019s work to fight for trafficked victims<\/a> who had been wrongfully arrested and jailed in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a story of collective action,\u201d Harris said. \u201cIt was about the power of advocacy and activism and seeing what is possible and then fighting for it, even what has not been done before. And so much of the spirit behind that work was born right here in Oakland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee was joined in the audience by other local elected officials, including councilmembers Rowena Brown, Charlene Wang, and Janani Ramachandran, as well as Doug Emhoff, Harris\u2019 husband and former second gentleman, and other members of Harris\u2019 family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bay Area is the place that always encouraged, whether I was in office or not,\u201d Harris said. \u201cIt\u2019s the kind of work you are doing that Mayor Lee, and so many others, have done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris said in addition to her formal book tour, she\u2019s been on a \u201cshadow tour,\u201d with no press, just her in conversation with everyday Americans worried about the trajectory of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially after the election, I have felt a deep need to just listen,\u201d Harris said. \u201cWhat I\u2019m enjoying about this moment is I can do it, and it\u2019s not transactional. I\u2019m not asking anybody for a vote. I\u2019m spending time with a lot of young people and asking them just how they are doing, and there\u2019s a lot that they have to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, as part of this \u201cshadow tour,\u201d Harris visited the East Oakland Youth Development Center<\/a>, which opened its doors in 1978 to provide Black and brown youth with job opportunities, counseling services, and other support. Harris had the opportunity to speak with the center\u2019s executive director, Selena Wilson, and with youth participants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe center reminded me of the community in which I was raised, here in Oakland and in Berkeley,\u201d Harris said. \u201cWe were raised in a community of people, who told us children that we were special. What is happening in so many places here in the Bay area and around the country is the community coming together, understanding that one of the greatest returns on our investment of time, of money, of energy, of thought, of resources, is the children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris said she frequently hears concerns from young people that what they are learning in school won\u2019t lead to any \u201cmeaningful and sustained employment.\u201d Harris said they\u2019re also anxious about the climate crisis and the rapid rise of AI technology.<\/p>\n

Then Harris said she wanted to take a \u201ccontroversial\u201d stand: that the voting age should be lowered to 16.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"20260303_Harris_EG_018\"\/Harris spoke candidly about the the current state of political landscape and what Oakland has meant for her political career before getting personal and talking about grief. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"20260303_Harris_EG_024\"\/Attendees got to hear Harris in conversation with Rep. Simon for a little over an hour. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look at our 16 and 17 year olds, and we want them to be more engaged,\u201d Harris said. \u201cWell, I think that lowering the voting age is one way to do that, because when we ask them to understand and think about what they want for their future, they will know they have some power to decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most intimate moments between the two political powerhouses came shortly before Simon asked a question that had been submitted by someone in attendance. Simon told the story of how Harris introduced her to her husband, Kevin Weston, who died in 2014 after battling a rare form of leukemia. Harris married the couple, Simon said, and also delivered the eulogy at Weston\u2019s funeral.<\/p>\n

Five years earlier, Harris\u2019 mom, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, had died from cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you process grief, still leading with so much strength, beauty, and clarity?\u201d asked Simon. The audience member who submitted the question had also lost her mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrief is a physical experience, it\u2019s an emotional experience, it\u2019s mental,\u201d Harris said. \u201cIt\u2019s everything, and the only thing that really helps deal with the sharp pain of it is time. That\u2019s the reality from my experience. But the thing about it, it\u2019s always important to remember that whatever you shared with your mother, time you spent, the things she taught you, that stuff is banked. It can\u2019t be taken away.\u201d<\/p>\n

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