Vice President Kamala Harris speaks onstage during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 53rd Annual Legislative Conference Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner at Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Sept. 14, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Congressional Black Caucus Foundation)
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, warned members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Saturday that its vision is “under profound threat.”
Harris, alongside President Joe Biden, cautioned the crowd on what’s at stake if the GOP presidential nominee — former President Donald Trump — takes back the White House in November during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Phoenix Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C.
The gala followed a series of events during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference this week. According to a pool report, about 3,500 people were in attendance at the dinner at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
“The CBC has always had a vision for the future of our nation, a future where we can see what is possible, unburdened by what has been, a future where we fulfill the promise of America, a promise of freedom, opportunity and justice, not just for some, but for all,” Harris said.
“While we moved and fight to move our nation forward toward a brighter future, Donald Trump and his extremist allies intend to take our nation backward,” she said, adding that “they will give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations, cut Social Security and Medicare and end the Affordable Care Act, which the CBC fought so hard to pass — but we are not going back.”
Harris — who now has the chance to become the first woman president, the second Black president and the first president of South Asian descent — was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus while she served as a member of the U.S. Senate from California.
After Biden passed the torch to Harris following his disastrous debate performance in late June, the veep has conducted an unprecedented and expedited campaign as she and Trump vie for the Oval Office.
“Let’s be clear: there are old ghosts with new garments trying to seize your power and extremists coming for your freedom, making it harder for you to vote and have your vote counted, closing doors of opportunity, attacking affirmative action and the value of diversity, equity and inclusion — banning books, erasing history,” Biden said Saturday.
The president received the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award ahead of his remarks. He was praised by Rep. Terri Sewell, an Alabama Democrat and the chair of the board of directors of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and Rep. Steven Horsford, a Nevada Democrat and the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
The White House hosted its first-ever brunch in celebration of Black Excellence on Friday, where Biden underscored some of the efforts of his administration in aiming to advance opportunities and equity for Black communities.
Biden on Saturday again denounced the attacks against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, saying “it’s wrong” and “it’s got to stop.”
He added that “any president should reject hate in America” and “not incite it.”
On the other side of the presidential campaign aisle, Trump has been demonizing immigrants, most recently at a rally in Las Vegas on Friday night. He’s made false and baseless claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, and Venezuelan gangs in Aurora, Colorado, while threatening mass deportations if he wins another term.
At a press conference in California on Friday, Trump promised that, if elected, he would carry out the “largest deportation in the history of our country” — and that it would “start with Springfield and Aurora.”