On Saturday, former Vice President Kamala Harris took a not-so-subtle rhetorical jab at President Donald Trump, who defeated her in the 2024 election last November, and Elon Musk.
Harris delivered remarks upon receiving the Chairman’s Award, which honors people who “excel in public service and leverage their unique platforms to ignite and drive meaningful change” at the NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena, California.
“Some see the flames on our horizons, the rising waters in our cities, the shadows gathering over our democracy and ask ‘What do we do now?’” Harris said a few minutes into her speech.
“But we know exactly what to do, because we have done it before,” she added. “And we will do it again. We use our power. We organize, mobilize. We educate and we advocate. Because, you see, our power has never come from having an easy path.”
Harris later needled Trump and Elon Musk, a wealthy tech executive who is overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), without mentioning them by name.
“While we have no illusions about what we are up against in this chapter in our American story, this chapter will be written not simply by whoever occupies the Oval Office nor by the wealthiest among us,” Harris said. “The American story will be written by you. Written by us. By we the people.”
Reports emerged after Trump won the 2024 election indicating that Harris, 60, was signaling to her confidants that she wants to keep her future political options open, including a potential 2026 campaign for governor of California or a presidential run in 2028.
“I don’t think the world has seen the last of Vice President Kamala Harris,” Symone Sanders, a former adviser to Harris who became a host on MSNBC, said in December. “I don’t know how she will show up again, but she is a young politician who garnered over 75 million votes in this election, and she will be back.”
Harris has not formally embarked on any campaigns in the intervening months, but last week she made headlines by signing with Hollywood talent agency CAA, joining former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
