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Former Vice President Kamala Harris referenced a viral video of elephants during an earthquake while bashing President Donald Trump's "vision for America" during his first 100 days in office.
“A lot of folks are wondering what’s going to guide us through this moment. How are we all going to figure out how to chart the course?” Harris said while addressing the crowd at Emerge’s 20th anniversary gala in San Francisco on Wednesday (April 30). “Please allow me, friends, to digress for a moment.”
“OK, it’s kind of dark in here, but I’m ask[ing] for a show of hands — who saw that video from a couple of weeks ago, the one of the elephants at the San Diego Zoo during the earthquake? Google it if you’ve not seen it,” she added with a laugh.
Harris referenced how the elephants "felt the earth shaking beneath their feet" and "got in a circle and stood next to each other to protect the most vulnerable."
“What a powerful metaphor,” she added. “Because we know those who try to incite fear are most effective when they divide and conquer, when they separate the herd, when they try to make everyone think they are alone.”
Harris made the reference while ripping Trump for creating “the greatest manmade economic crisis in modern presidential history” through his sweeping tariffs, as well as accusing him of a "wholesale abandonment" of American ideals and committing a potential constitutional crisis.
“Americans across the political spectrum who are declaring that the president’s reckless tariffs hurt workers and families by raising the cost of everyday essentials, devastate the retirement accounts that people spent a lifetime paying into, and paralyze American businesses, large and small,” Harris said.
The former vice president, who hadn't spoken publicly about Trump since her 2024 presidential election loss in November, also accused him of violating the checks and balances of the U.S. government.
“We here know that when the checks and balances ultimately collapse, if Congress fails to do its part, or if the courts fail to do their part, or if both do their part but the president defies them anyway … that is called a constitutional crisis,” she said, adding that such a crisis "will eventually impact everyone."