Former vice president Kamala Harris has criticised Donald Trump’s “wholesale abandonment” of US ideals during his first 100 days in office in her biggest speech since her election defeat.
Ms Harris accused the president of “the greatest man-made economic crisis in modern presidential history” in her most extensive public comments since conceding in November.
She said Mr Trump’s politics benefited the rich and described his “narrow, self-serving vision” where they “punish truth tellers, favour loyalists, cash in on their power, and leave everyone else to fend for themselves”.
“Instead of an administration working to advance America’s highest ideals, we are witnessing the wholesale abandonment of those ideals,” Ms Harris said on Wednesday – a day after Mr Trump marked 100 days in office.
During the 15-minute speech, she spoke of the anxiety and confusion which have gripped many Democrats since her election defeat, warning “things are probably going to get worse before they get better” – but she discouraged despair.
“They are counting on the notion that if they can make some people afraid, it will have a chilling effect on others,” she said.
“But what they have overlooked is that fear is not the only thing that’s contagious. Courage is contagious.”
She delivered the speech to a hometown crowd in San Francisco at an event hosted by Emerge America, an organisation which recruits and trains Democratic women, which started after her first run for office in the city.
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The former vice president is ramping up her public presence as Democrats nationally search for a path forwards after last year’s election, in which Republicans also won control of Congress.
Ms Harris is seen as a strong candidate for California governor next year, if she runs, and could be a presidential contender again.
“I’m not here tonight to offer all the answers,” she said.
“But I am here to say this: You are not alone and we are all in this together.
“The one check, the one balance, the one power that must not fail is the voice of the people.”
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Before Wednesday’s speech, she had barely mentioned Mr Trump by name since she conceded defeat to him.
The president went after his former rival in a campaign-style rally on Tuesday marking his 100th day in office.
He sarcastically called her a “great border czar” and a “great candidate” as he repeated some of the lines he routinely delivered during the campaign.
