Commentary

Report: Kamala Harris to Announce Run for President

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The California Democrat, who promised reporters that she’d ponder the decision over the holidays, is now expected to make a formal announcement on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Published

7 years ago

January 17, 2019

Oakland Post

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

The California Democrat, who promised reporters that she’d ponder the decision over the holidays, is now expected to make a formal announcement on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

CBS News Radio in California first reported that Harris likely will hold a campaign rally in Oakland where she’ll officially throw her hat into the ring.

Harris, 54, has been making the rounds of television talk shows and appearing at several events this week as part of a brief tour to promote her new book, “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey.”

At every stop, when asked about running for president, Harris has answered with some variation of “I’m not ready yet” to announce her decision and cited family considerations, according to CBS News.

But several sources with knowledge of her plans told the network that she has in fact decided to run, with the enthusiastic blessing of her husband and two stepchildren.

The debate within her camp has been how, and where, to launch her campaign.

Details have emerged that the current expectation is for Harris to enter the race with a campaign rally in Oakland, the city where she was born and began her legal career.

Harris has continually been as outspoken as any critic about President Donald Trump and his policies.

While the president continues to push his agenda to build a wall on America’s southern border, Harris called the proposal, “Vanity Project.”

She also scoffed at Trump’s contention that America faces a border crisis.

“It’s an emergency of his own creation,” she said, noting that hundreds of thousands of federal workers remained furloughed or without pay during the shutdown.

During the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference in September, Harris told the Black Press that America faced a “critical time” under Trump’s presidency.

She said the American Dream sought by King was still deferred.

“It’s about where we came from and where we’ve got to go … this is a pivotal moment,” Harris said.

“I think we all know when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. talked about the Dream, it wasn’t about being asleep. It was about being awake.”