The White House on Thursday brushed aside criticisms launched by former Vice President Kamala Harris in her first major speech since leaving office following her loss to President Donald Trump in November.
In a 15-minute speech at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco on Wednesday, Harris reportedly touched on the anxiety and confusion that have gripped many of her Democrat supporters since Trump took office, accusing the administration of abandoning America's highest ideals and stoking fear to push its agenda.
"It was a great reminder to the American people of just how blessed we all are that the leader sitting in the Oval Office today is President Donald Trump and not President Kamala Harris," White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said at Thursday's press briefing. "It was a helpful reminder of just what a travesty and a tragedy that would have been. It would have been the end of America.
"The only thing Americans want to hear from Kamala Harris is an apology for joining Joe Biden — and remember she was the border czar — in aiding and abetting the invasion of our country, and we're never going to stop talking about this because what they did to this country is unforgivable. It is an eternal stain on the Democrat Party."
Harris spoke at a fundraiser for Emerge, which focuses on electing female Democrats, and it came amid mounting speculation about whether she will run for California governor in 2026 to replace term-limited Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom. Harris, 60, has been criticized by top Democrats in the race for not announcing her intentions, but she could forgo that race and decide to run for president for a third time in 2028.
"I think I speak for everyone at the White House," said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at the briefing. "We encourage Kamala Harris to continue going out and do speaking engagements."
Harris said Trump is pulling the U.S. to the verge of a constitutional crisis, devastating the economy, and abandoning world allies.
"A failed loser desperately clinging to relevance as she spirals into the political abyss," White House Communications Director Steven Cheung wrote Wednesday in a post on X.