Sen. Kamala Harris: ‘I am running for president of the United States’

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) announced on Martin Luther King Jr. Day that she will be running for president in 2020.


“Truth, justice, decency, equality, freedom, democracy these aren’t just words,” Harris says in a video posted on her Twitter account on Monday morning. “They’re the values we as Americans cherish. And they’re all on the line now.

“The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values. That’s why I’m running for president of the United States. I’m running to lift those voices, to bring our voices together.”

Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, also made the announcement on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Anchor George Stephanopoulos asked Harris, “What qualifies you to be commander in chief

“I love my country. I love my country,” Harris said. “This is a moment in time that I feel a sense of responsibility to stand up and fight for the best of who we are.

“And that fight will always include as one of the highest priorities our national security. Thinking about it in a way that we understand that we must be smart [and] must understand the power that we have, the strength that we have. That is about military power; it is about diplomatic power.”

She said, until recently, the U.S. also had the power of “moral authority in the world and our ability to work with our allies.”

Harris was a prosecutor for 20 years and has served as the junior United States Senator for California since 2017. A native of Oakland, she is a graduate of Howard University, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She is also a graduate of University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) announced on Jan. 11 that she is running for president. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have announced they are launching presidential exploratory committees.

Related

Trending Now

Follow us

Most Popular

Join Our Newsletter

Get the top workplace fairness news delivered straight to your inbox