In remarks at the Emerge Gala in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, former Vice President Kamala Harris decried President Trump's tariffs.
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00:00Emerge, I will say something you know. Throughout my entire career and life, I have always believed in the ideals of our nation.
00:11The ideals reflected in the Declaration of Independence, that all are created equal and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights.
00:23Ideals advanced and affirmed by the service and sacrifice of generations of patriots.
00:32The ideals that ground the Constitution of the United States, that here in our country, power ultimately lies not with the wealthy or well-connected, but with all of us, with we the people.
00:55Now, of course, I recognize that America has never fully lived up to these ideals.
01:08I recognize that for all the gains we've made, the American dream has for decades been slipping further out of reach for so many.
01:20And that the American people deserve leaders who make their lives better and make our country stronger.
01:32But sadly, we have seen quite the opposite over these past few months.
01:46Now, I know tonight's event happens to coincide with 100 days after the inauguration.
01:53And I'll leave it to others to give a full accounting of what has happened so far.
02:01But I will say this.
02:05Instead of the administration working to advance America's highest ideals,
02:15we are witnessing the wholesale abandonment of those ideals.
02:23And what we are also seeing in these last 14 weeks is Americans using their voice and showing their courage.
02:42We all know President Trump and his administration and their allies are counting on the notion that fear can be contagious.
02:57They are counting on the notion that if they make some people afraid, it will have a true effect on others.
03:09But what they're overlooking, what they have overlooked, is that fear is not the only thing that's contagious.
03:21Courage is contagious.
03:23The courage of Americans who are banding together in the face of the greatest man-made economic crisis in modern presidential history.
03:41Americans across the political spectrum who are declaring that the president's reckless tariffs hurt workers and families
03:56by raising the cost of their lives by raising the cost of their lives by raising the cost of everyday essentials,
04:01devastate the retirement accounts that people spent a lifetime paying into,
04:08and paralyze American businesses, large and small, forcing them to lay off people,
04:18to stop hiring or pause investment decisions.
04:22The courage of Americans we are seeing who are rallying as Social Security officers to protect their hard-earned benefits.
04:34Of Americans who are speaking out to say,
04:38it is not okay to violate court orders.
04:43Not okay.
04:44Saying it is not okay to detain and disappear American citizens or anyone without due process.
05:04The courage of judges to uphold the rule of law in the face of those who would jail them.
05:11Of universities that are defying unconstitutional demands that threaten the pursuit of truth and academic independence.